Surrey Park ended the longest-running finals drought in the EFNL in 2019.
The Panthers played in week one of the finals, but loss by 20-points to eventual premier Fairpark after finishing fourth in Division Four in 2019 with 10 wins and six losses, making them determined to go deeper into the finals in 2021.
In 2020, Surrey appointed new senior coach David Jensen after four years of Scott Hamill at the helm and there is a real sense of optimism at the Panthers, as they are looking for constant improvement after their brief finals appearance in 2019.
“We’re hoping to improve on that (2019), and we finished fourth on the ladder,” senior coach David Jensen said.
“So, we’re hoping to finish on a higher position on the ladder and to keep building our culture and our personal growth.”
The Panthers recruited the skipper of a rival club in Jordan Winter from Nunawading along with another pair of Nunawading stars in Cooper Winter and Josh Durand.
Brogan Roberts, Chris Allen, Mitchell Molnar and Beau Coulter round out an extensive list of new club recruits.
Meanwhile, club veterans Michael Paolini and Cameron McCasker have retired, with Paolini set to be senior assistant coach in 2021.
The club’s leadership group has also been finalised.
“Surrey Park senior captain is Matthew Dompietro and Vice-Captain is Ryan Kennedy,” Jensen said.
“The leadership group also includes Harry Cook, Nick Snibson, Josh Reid, Harry Lacchiana and Thomas Spangaro.
“Some of our leadership group are from the reserves and they more than likely will play seniors as well like Harry Lacchiana.”
Jensen also highlighted a few players he expected to have standout seasons.
“I’m hoping Callum Ternes has a big year, he has put on 15kg of muscle which will help him develop, he was a tall skinny kid, and they take a lot longer to develop and he has really filled out across his core and his chest,” he added.
“So, we’re hoping he has a standout year.
“Hamish Burrill, I think he is going to be a star, he has a great footy IQ.
“And I’m expecting good things from Harry Lacchiana, who is training the house down and Jimmy Pritchard I am hoping will have a stellar year as well, he is an inside beast.”
Good news on the preseason front with training going well, as the players have adapted to the new game plans and styles implemented.
“They seem to be enjoying it and the numbers are healthy, “Jensen said.
It will be a history breaking year for the Panthers with their first-ever women’s team to run out in the black and white.
It’s been two years in the making, after the 2019 season was cancelled.
The club has embraced the women’s team and both the men’s and women’s teams are supporting each other.
“We are sharing experiences, so the women and men have training at the same time currently and there is a little bit of sharing ideas and it’s just not them and us on our own,” Jensen said.
“We are trying to have a one club culture, same core values, trusting each other we are growing as a family club.”
In the meantime, Club Communications Manager Grace Sketcher is excited about the upcoming Panthers first women’s season.
The women’s team will be coached by Steve De Franceschi, who was previously the Assistant Coach for the Monash Blues women’s club.
“Coach De Franceschi has been pushing the girls hard in terms of fitness and cleaning up skills that may have tarnished a bit in the latter half of 2020,” Sketcher said.
“It’s been great to finally return to some form of contact training and De Fran is keen to introduce some tactics and on field plays to training sessions soon.”
As the team has yet to play a game together, it was hard for Sketcher to pinpoint who will have breakout seasons.
“Ruby Anderson, Kara Oakley, Steph Hunt and Sarah Goucher have been showing some strong skills during training, so we look forward to seeing how that translates into a game situation,” she said.
Driving towards a one club culture, the bond between the men’s and women’s teams is amazing considering the limited capacity to train or socialise together in 2020.
“Our 2021 social calendar aims to increase this with a few events planned at our local watering hole, The Harp of Erin and we’re sure that once the season gets cracking the men’s teams will be snagging some boundary spots at the women’s games,” Sketcher said.
The women’s team are keen to make history after waiting two years to play.
“On the back of Covid, we would really love to see our members and community return to watching local footy and particularly get around watching our new women’s team,” Sketcher said.
“We are intent on integrating our men’s and women’s teams as one club and have been gathering together occasionally to train or visit our sponsor, The Harp of Erin and this is something we’ll continue to foster once the 2021 season commences.”
Surrey Park starts its 2021 campaign away against Nunawading on Saturday, April 17 and the women’s fixture is yet to be released (at time of writing).