Silvan are out to right some wrongs in 2021 following a near finals miss in 2019 and senior coach Trent Martin says the Cats youth are the key to the club’s potential success.
The Cats are purring as they eye the arrival of a new football season, with the notorious red dirt of Silvan Recreation Reserve now a happy feeding and picturesque ground for young talent.
The club is coming off an Under 19 premiership in 2019 and the youthful exuberance of those premiership players is driving the group forward, with Martin ecstatic that the successful ‘kittens’ have committed to the Cattery.
“The oval is pristine nick after a year off and the boys have been chomping at the bit to get into their work,”
“We’ve got a really young group and that’s great for us because young blokes want to play footy.”
“We let 2019 get away from us, but it did allow a number of the kids to go back and win the Under 19 flag,”
“We’ve got five or six walk up senior players in that group who we let play in the Under 19’s and win a flag as a bunch of mates and they all re-signed which is massive, because retaining all the kids is massive for us.”
Silvan have never consistently seen a production line of talent come through the gates but following some great work – and foresight – from members of the committee they seem set to see some sustainability in the forthcoming years.
“We’ve had some massive efforts from some our committee members who went and coached the Under 17 sides at St Simons with the idea to get those kids to Silvan (for Under 19 football and beyond),”
“With what’s happened around the points and finances, looking back, it’s one of the best things that’s happened to our football club, it’s left us in a really good position.”
Martin and co have also taken learnings from their impressive, albeit finals-less, 2019 campaign.
The Cats will be looking to emulate Coldstream and 2019 runners up East Burwood by adding as much pace to their attack as possible.
“Looking at Coldstream who are probably going to be the benchmark, they’ve got a good group of speedy young kids, East Burwood were the same, so we’ve been targeting some pace especially in our forward half,”
“So, it’s been a standard pre-season, with a big focus on fitness and now we’re caught up with that, we’re trying to adapt the Under 19’s game plan that won them a flag to our senior game plan from last season,”
“We’ve come a long way and are pretty happy with where we’re at.”
Given the double promotion of Fairpark and East Burwood in 2019 and the relegation of a very much rebuilding Chirnside Park, Division Four looks to be the tale of two divisions in 2021 once again.
Martin plans to use the unevenness of the competition to provide opportunities for the aforementioned youth to play and the older legs to rest, as the Cats look to chase down their (most) local rivals.
“Without any disrespect towards some of the other sides, that’s just the way it is when you’ve got young clubs trying develop,”
“But we’re aiming to and expect to play finals, so it’s an opportunity to rest the older players and trial some of the younger players which is perfect for where we want to be.”
“Coldstream will set the standard and the rest of us will fall in behind them and try to chase them down.”
Silvan host Forest Hill on the 17th of April to start their 2021 Season.
