31 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: Jessie Hare
Twitter: @JessieHaree
A new coach, new game plan and new recruits, and the Panthers are looking be a real finals contender in 2018.
An eighth on the ladder finish in Division 3 last season with eight wins gave Chirnside Park some things to ponder in the off season. It was time to bring back Alan Love to the club, who last played for the Panthers in 2011.
Having spent the last three years as Blackburn’s development coach, Love is coming into the club as the senior coach for this season, looking to bridge the gap to have the club play finals for the first time since 2009.
Another appointment to the coaching panel is former captain Luke Carratelli who was forced out of the game due to injury, and will be assisting Love throughout the season.
New Chirnside Park president Adrian Birt had nothing but positives to say on the appointment of their new senior coach and his assistant in Carratelli.
“I think Alan has settled in extremely well,” Birt said.
“Alan is a former player at our club, played with us a few years ago and has obviously come from Blackburn, which how can we put it, with a great grounding and we believe that he has settled very, very well.
“Luke is a very, very well respected person at our football club, former captain, the boys have an enormous amount of respect for Luke and believe me he has slotted into the role that he has now got as assistant to Alan very, very comfortably.”
In preparation for the upcoming season, it seems that the Panthers are looking to be a completely revitalised club.
Birt is confident that the club’s pre season will make them a strong force.
“We’ve recruited; we’ve done quite a few things – I mean we’re going to be bringing a complete new game plan to the table,” he said.
“When we look at it, it’s going to be a completely different and revitalised football club and playing squad.
“The way we are going to play our football is going to be completely different to what we have over other years.”
New senior coach, Alan Love. PICTURE: Chris Eastman, Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader.
Chirnside Park been busy recruiting in the off season, with the Panthers welcoming Dean Giles from Wodonga in the Ovens & Murray League, having also previously played for Doncaster East and Northern league Division 1 club, Montmorency.
Another notable recruit in Tim Hanly looks to be promising after previously playing in Division 1 for Port Melbourne Colts in the Southern league.
“They’ve been going fine at this stage. We are just trying to get everyone settled into their new roles which is new on-field roles and at this stage we all seem to be going on fine,” Birt said.
Looking towards the women’s side of things, Chirnside Park is continuing to boast one of the stronger female football set-ups in the competition.
With the club finishing fifth last year, recording six wins in the Deakin University Eastern Region Competition, it looks to have grown even stronger coming into the second season.
Women’s president Chantel Collins is confident that the club will have a promising year with the large number of girls wanting to be involved down at Chirnside Park.
“We had a pretty strong pre-season (and) we had great numbers down on the track,” Collins said.
“It’s been quite a large group that our coaches have been working with, we’ve had a couple of specialist coaches that we’ve had internally with the club spend some time with the girls as well which has been really great.”
Chirnside Park women’s first senior double header in 2017. PICTURE: Chirnside Park Football Club – Women’s & Girls footy Facebook page.
As female football is beginning to take off at a local level it is showing that all women have the opportunity to play football at an elite level.
“We obviously want to grow the club and develop our own pool of players,” Collins said.
“So we also want to try and find a balance of having football something the girls can get involved with for fun and the social aspect then also have it so they can develop their skills to have that pathway to go up to the AFL if they wanted.”
Chirnside Park will open its season at home against Scoresby at Kimberley Reserve on April 7.
