By Tash Gunawardana
Fairpark will seek to prove themselves in Division Three after their debut year finished with just one win on the board.
The club made a handful of changes to their list over the offseason.
Four players from other EFNL clubs have made the move to Fairpark to strengthen their stocks including Ben Gilling (Mulgrave), Cooper Hayman (Upper FTG), Vermont (EFNL) and Rowville (EFNL).
Nicholas Macente (WGNFL) will be a player/assistant coach and Tris Brown from the Old Collegians (VAFA) round out the new recruits to the Lions.
Premiership coach Sean Stanton will hope these new recruits will aide his side in ridding away the 2021 season blues as they focus on some key areas ahead of the 2022 season.
“Improvement, consistency and our ability to compete for longer,” Stanton said were the key learnings from 2021.
“2021 was challenging, particularly with some key players leaving just prior to the season commencing due to work/family commitments and injuries took their toll during the season.
“In saying this, I felt we were competitive in most games but just struggled with lapses at crucial times and I am hoping this is something that we can rectify.
“When you finish at the bottom there is always lots to improve on; commitment from the entire playing group to get to training and improve, is an area that is improving but can still get better.
“Also, our fitness across the board and developing some of our kids and identifying leaders to help take the club forward.”
Stanton admits that preseason training has been difficult due to the current covid climate, but his side have trained well and there are a few players to look out for.
“Ben McLeod, Mitch Neid and Efstratios Doulgeris have been outstanding throughout pre-season and they will need to play well this year and lead from the front if we are to be successful,” he said.
“Cody Morrison and Mason Byrne are two young kids with loads of potential, and Cody in particular has had a strong pre-season and I have been super impressed with the way he conducts himself, his willingness to improve and his understanding of the game.”
Although the Lions finished last in 2021, fans should be assured that the Lions players will play a more competitive brand of football.
“A united group, with a team first mentality, who week in week out competes to the highest standard.
“If we are able to achieve this, the results will hopefully follow,” Stanton said.
There is more to be excited about as well, with the club getting a facelift off the field.
“We are really excited that our new pavilion construction is underway with a planned completion of January 2023, without impacting the current facilities.” Stanton continued.
“We believe these facilities will help set us up for the coming generation, which is fantastic.”
The Fairpark women’s team are ready to tackle their second season of women’s football and further enhance their skills from 2021.
“My team is still relatively new to football, however last season while still learning the game itself, they never shied away and made teams earn a win over us,” Fairpark Women’s Coach Simon Aloi said.
“And we managed to beat South Croydon who were top of the table in our last game,
“A lot of the girls who stepped up late last year are really putting the hard yards in early,
“Watching them want to improve and answering all my challenges so far has been very encouraging. The core group I think are doing everything they can to be not just fit, but have the skills added to bolster their stocks from last season.”
The key focus at Fairpark women’s from Aloi is to have fun but to bring out the best in each other as a team.
“We are doing the work and hope to see that translate to good performances,” he said.
“A lot are really putting work in, it’s a lot different to this time last year.
“I won’t give too much away, but four girls who will be playing their second only season of footy have plenty of good things coming,” he said.
“Abbey Croot – who was nominated for team of the year. Her sister Emma Croot, Alex Kent, and Sonja Thorneycroft who is a booming kick and learning the art of being a key defender, are all players to keep your eye on.”
Lions’ fans should be excited for a 2022 of learnings combined with fun.
“Come down and support us, we would love to show you all what we have learned, and what we can do.”