35 DAYS TO GO | EFL Media will be previewing each club ahead of the 2018 season with the #InFocus2018 series, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
By: Brett Beston
Twitter: @Brett_Beston
The Rowville Football Club heads into the new season with redemption very much on its mind.
Coming off their highest finish ever in Division 1 (third) in 2016, most expected the Hawks to kick on last year, but an unflattering 10th place left the Rowville faithful scratching their heads.
Fast forward a few months and a change of coach combined with a few new faces both on and off the field have brought renewed optimism at Seebeck Oval.
New coach John Brown, who has made the move from Vermont, is understandably excited about the challenges ahead.
PICTURE: Alex Frawley will captain the Hawks again in 2018.
“I just identified that they (Rowville) were a club with a young list, and there was certainly plenty of talent in terms of their under-19s playing finals and the development team playing off in the grand final last year,” Brown said.
“A lot of the that young talent that had come through the ranks over the last five or six years and stepped up a few divisions had really grasped Division 1 football, and I thought the opportunity had presented itself with a good young club and hopefully I could impart my knowledge and help these guys take the next step in terms of where they were heading and ultimately having some success in Division 1.”
Brown, who returns to the senior coaching ranks after previous stints with Templestowe, Forest Hill and Park Orchards is certainly no stranger to nurturing young talent, having spent the last couple of years heading up the under-19s at Vermont along with doubling as an assistant for the senior side.
“I actually had a dual role at Vermont so that probably helped establish me as a senior assistant and also heading up the under-19s,” he said.
“So with a list of 60 players as well as coaching at that level, what it probably did was give me a full understanding of what’s required in club coaching and rather than just being a senior coach, understanding the requirements needed to coach the club and that’s holistically from the seniors right through to the 19s and having a connection with the under-17s.
“I think that the talent identification I’ve been doing over the last couple of years at Vermont has certainly held me in good stead moving into my current role.”
List management has been very much to the fore for the new Hawks mentor with a trio of Noble Park champions at the head of the queue.
PICTURE: Ex-Bull Ziggy Alwan in his new colours.
“I really engaged myself in the list management after my appointment and met a lot of the players and spoke to people around the club to get a bit of a feel as to what was required,” Brown said.
“We identified that we had a very young but talented list but we needed some experience, some bigger bodies and some guys that had played some high level football that could impart their knowledge back into our young list but also to be able to add to what we want to achieve on the field as well as off field.
“We deliberately targeted Ziggy Alwan as a forward we needed. I then met with James Gwilt who was looking for a move; he’s come on board as not just a player but also as an assistant coach.
“Having him involved in the coaching group as well as a player has been super for our young guys.”
And with Trent Robertson rounding out the trio of former Bulls, Rowville can certainly take some solace, after the, for outsiders at least, shock exit of Chandler medallist Cam Manuel at end of last season.
PICTURE: 2016 Chandler medallist Cam Manuel has transferred to Balwyn.
“Cam’s a quality player and we’d certainly have rather he had stayed, but we understood where he was at and what he wanted to achieve this year,” Brown said.
“We’d certainly welcome him back in a heartbeat if he wanted to return at some stage.
“It was a respectful decision both ways, but we knew in September of last year the decision he was going to take, and we were able to plan and structure around what we were going to do with our midfield group.
“So it’s a real opportunity to develop a couple of guys, the likes of Matt Tranyor and Aaron Bond who have been able to share the role and fill the gap left by Cam.”
Brown said part of the strategy was to look at some of the club’s VFL-listed ex-juniors, in particular Bond and Traynor and with the demise of the development competition it was time to get them back to Rowville.
“We’re pretty fortunate to have had those guys come through the likes of Eastern Ranges and Box Hill Hawks and their training standards and behaviours are terrific. Matt Tranyor will play as a half-forward flanker, midfielder and Aaron Bond will be more of a running half-back flanker.”
Add in a couple of other ex-juniors returning after stints at Montrose and Brown is confident the future looks a bright one.
“That was the other part of our recruitment, we had some juniors at Montrose who were looking to return, Matt Little and Jackson McDonald,” he said.
“Jackson I think was runner-up in the best and fairest last year and previous to that was playing at (VFL side) Casey, so once again we were very fortunate to get those two lads across and they’ll certainly add to our list as well.”
Jackson joins brother Lachie who is also currently also playing at Rowville.
Joining Brown in the coaches’ box this season will be some other new faces.
“Ben Wise has finished playing and has come across from Balwyn, James Gwilt will be one of our assistants as well as playing, along with Andrew Pinto, who followed me from Vermont and Travis Forbes. So it’s a new look coaching staff for 2018,” Brown said.
So what are the expectations for the season ahead?
“We’re pretty buoyant in terms of where we are heading and what we want to achieve, the club just needed a bit of realignment in direction in terms of its leaders, on-field performance and probably standards and behaviours needed to change to reflect more of a Division 1 standard,” Brown said.
“Yes, we’ve changed some of our game plan and game style but overall the talent is there with the 19s playing finals last year and the development team making a grand final and it was only a couple of years ago the senior team was playing finals and just missed out on making a prelim.
“We’re in a semi-professional environment so we’ve really had to change the way the players prepare and the way they train over the summer period and mixed in with some experienced recruits we’ve been able to get everyone on the same page and our goal and ambition is to play finals.”
Like most clubs, preparation for the year ahead is in full swing with Rowville, who kicked off its pre-season in November with 10 pre-Xmas sessions followed by plenty of hard work since a return to the track post-festive season in mid-January.
The Hawks play the first of three practice matches this weekend against Doncaster East followed by games against Cranbourne and VAFA side, Old Carey.
Rowville will host Norwood at Seebeck Oval on Saturday April 7 in Round 1.
