The 2021 season marks Morris D’Alessandro’s fourth year at the helm of the Croydon Football Club and he is excited about where his young group can go.
The Blues finished second on the ladder in Division One in 2019 with 13 wins and five losses, making the grand final and losing by 36-points to Doncaster East, leaving the Blues as the front runners for this season’s Division One crown.
D’Alessandro cannot pinpoint which of his players will have breakout seasons, as he believes majority of his players are at the prime age to take the next step in their football careers.
“We have such a young list, and these boys are still maturing into men and becoming better footballers,” senior coach Morris D’Alessandro said.
“There’s a group of them getting around that 20-24 age and have probably played 50+ games of senior football or so, so we are looking forward to those boys playing again.”
The Blues have a long-term injury to important player Kane Doueal who has broken a bone in his foot and the club are hoping he might become available at the backend of the year but admits it’s very unlikely.
Outside of that, D’Alessandro says preseason has been amazing at the Blues, with his charges setting great standards.
“We’ve had great numbers on the track,” he said.
“I guess my main concern coming back was having that break that we had with the Covid and so forth, but they have all come back with the right mental attitude,”
“So, they have been outstanding in the way they have come back and the sort of shape they have come back in.”
Matt Wilkins and Josh Bolton have decided to step down as co-captains, so the club have appointed two new captains in Jordan Lynch and Billy Dickson.
Photo – Croydon Football Club Facebook
Heading into the 2021 season, D’Alessandro wants the team to continue on what they have been learning and implementing over the last three years and focus on what they’ve done well across that time.
“We’ve got a really great game style that we believe stands up against most sides and we will keep going along with that,” he said.
The Blues look set to play finals again and are excited to see the development of the young players to see what can achieve in the 2021 season.
The Blues have been fortunate in retaining 95% of the list and D’Alessandro has been impressed with the manner in which his squad has conducted themselves given the deductions in the salary cap, which were announced last year.
“They really want to play for this footy club, which is really good,” he said.
“It’s been an uphill trek for us, and we started off three to four years ago and before we had only won six games and then every year, we have had won a few more games,”
“And obviously last season playing off in the grand final, so yes it’s exciting times for our footy club.”
“We have got a really good culture at our footy club and if anyone wants to enjoy some local footy then to get down to Croydon.”
Croydon commences its 2021 season against East Ringwood away on Saturday, April 10.