By Davis Harrigan
It goes without saying that since the Division Three premiership for Park Orchards in 2017, the Sharks have been on a rather meteoric rise through the Eastern Football Netball League Ranks.
Entering Premier Division for the first time after being promoted from the top of the Division One ladder last year, the word “competitive” might trump all others.
Although the promotion came without silverware or pomp, coach Dennis Armfield is still looking ahead to what’s going to be a very tough and very even division – and noted how hard it’s going to be to gauge where other teams are at after last year’s limited game time.
“If you look at the premier season last year, some clubs had seven games, some clubs had eight or nine games, and ourselves, we only had half a season the way it finished.
“It’s very hard to judge a season on seven or eight games,” Armfield said.
“It’s going on history, and we’re aiming to be very competitive every weekend.
“Hopefully the results will come, but I think the thing I’m excited for is the challenge every week of great opposition come at us, and that happened in division one as well.”
That competition is going to ramp up, but Park Orchards are very much ready to take on the opposition, with the new teams and new standard set to provide a great benchmark and opportunity for the club.
“Prior to last year, Division One was one of the most closely contested competitions in the EFNL, and I’ve had experience with that, and just the step up in quality that you’re playing against (in Premier).
“I don’t mean any disrespect to Division One at all, there’s some great quality teams and players, but you’d like to think Premier Division has Premier Division talent.
“That’s exciting to test not only myself, but our coaches and program against the best.”
When it comes to training and preparation, the Sharks won’t change much – but they will focus on adapting and broadening strategies, to be able to find a different approach, or be dynamic in their style.
“We don’t need to re-invent the wheel, and we’ve shown that at Division One level we can be really competitive, and we showed the game plan can stack up against really good opposition,” Armfield said.
“It’s been about refining it slightly, having probably a Plan C to not only a Plan B, and then also understanding the connection with the players a little bit more, to see what changes can be made in terms of position and stuff they can add to the game plan we’ve already got.”
More feedback will be sought from the players to add perspective to the plan, but the strong numbers have also allowed for stronger relationships and bonds to be formed.
“We’ve had good numbers from day dot, averaging good amounts from senior to youth on the track, which is a great mixture to have. Most of the boys are kicking on, and it allows you to refine and fine tune what your game plan is,” Armfield said.
“You can seek players feedback into that game plan too because they’ve been able to execute it for what’s only 10 games, but you must understand their side of the story.
“It’s allowed us coaches to connect a lot better, and that’s been a real positive.”
With most of the playing list sticking at the club, and just a handful of outs to other EFNL clubs, there’s a renewed sense of confidence that the talent and leadership is only set to increase across the year, with the group feeling rather cohesive.
“We’re pretty lucky with the junior club connection we have, that a lot of our youth that have come through over the years have really stepped up, with the likes of how homegrown talent in Jaye Witnish, someone that’s really exciting,” Armfield said.
“We’ve got Tyler Prunty, who’s really stepped up this pre-season, and we’ve been fortunate to retain some VFL players full-time in Mason Blakey and Kane Keppell, who have really added to their leadership of our group. There’s other new up and coming blokes that have settled nicely into the group that could be names we see on the radar.”
2022 also heralds a return to the intimidating Domeney Reserve after the clubrooms were completed. It was disappointing for Park Orchards to not make a return before the pin was pulled last year, but there is an even stronger desire to enjoy it this year.
“Last year we front-ended our games to be away because we were getting our rooms done, and to miss out on the opportunity to play at home for the back half of the year, you do miss that home crowd advantage, you do miss your locals and faithful coming down and cheering you on,” Armfield said.
“To return home to new rooms, you already get the sense it’s exciting and the smell of football is in the air. People are coming down and checking things out, and there’s nothing like playing at home in front of your home crowd.
“Definitely pretty lucky we’re able to kick off round one with a great game against North Ringwood, who are a quality opposition.”
While the results and wins will be important, Armfield is keen to put the best side out on the field and just work on what Park Orchards can do with the hand they’ve been dealt – the rest will be like a deck of cards that fall into place.
“All I know is we can control what we can control, and that’s our attitude, the way we show up every weekend. We will give it our all from the starting siren to the finish, that will hold us in good stead and the results will look after themselves.”
Facing up in Women’s First Division this year against the likes of Blackburn, Rowville, Chirnside Park and newcomers Beaconsfield, Park Orchards have their work cut out for them. The signs of improvement are already there, though, and coach Simon McAuliffe is keen to see how far that will progress.
“We had a slow start to pre-season last year, so I always felt like we were behind the eight ball a little. But we got a bit of momentum going, so I’d like to think we’d carry that on, we lost our last game by three points and had a couple of disappointing losses,” McAuliffe said.
“I’d like to think and almost guarantee that we will improve as a group, and I do feel excited looking at the improvement, and knowing that this season will built on the back half of last year.”
There’s a much stronger build up for this season, with numbers being bolstered, and while there will be room to grow, the difference from 2021 to 2022 is notable.
“The girls are on board this season, and training in larger numbers. If everyone’s on the same page, you’d like to think, naturally through some good training that you will improve as a group,” McAuliffe said.
“It’s going to come through and it’s a solid pre-season.
“Every Monday and Thursday we train, and I mentioned recently compared to where we were last year, we’re miles ahead, and I can definitely see it.”
McAuliffe highlighted that last year was punctuated by injuries or a side constrained by fit players, but with more of a focus on fitness and preparation, believed there was a much better chance the side would be competitive in close games.
“We lost three games with a lack of fitness last year, and hurt by lack of numbers on the bench, so you could only be playing with 16 but if you’re fit and lucky enough and not getting injuries, you should still win a couple of close games,” he said.
“I’ve certainly done a lot more of that (fitness), to make sure you give yourself a chance in those close games through being able to run them out, I’d be happy to win one or two close ones just through running games out, and still going at the end.”