28 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: Daniel Cencic
Twitter: @DC_EFL
Entering his second season at the helm of Fairpark, Lions coach Sean Stanton has begun laying the foundations for the future.
An eighth-placed finish last season recording five wins and a draw may not look as favourable on first impression, but wins over eventual premier Donvale and finallists the Whitehorse Pioneers in 2017 showed glimpses of the form Stanton is looking to capture.
“We were around the mark at the halfway mark last year but we fell away,” Stanton said.
“Last year we didn’t improve our ladder position on the previous year, but what we did manage to do was get more games into some of our younger guys.
“We’ve gone out and recruited a handful of players that we think will improve us but obviously they need to fit in with the club and the culture.
“We were competitive in patches last year, we just didn’t find that consistency but if we can do that, you’ll see an improvement.”
The Lions have picked up Alex Calder from Upper Ferntree Gully, Korey Grant from the West Gippsland league along with big full-forward James Gough from Mount Waverley in the Southern league.
Kicking 49 goals last season and 114 the year before, Stanton hopes Gough will add another dimension to the Fairpark attack.
“When we look at recruiting guys, they need to be good people and good players and we’ve managed to recruit a small handful,” Stanton said.
“Alex Calder hasn’t played for a couple of years and has some good leadership qualities – he’s a younger guy but he’s keen and eager to get involved.
“Korey Grant last year played at Nar Nar Goon but played in a premiership with Cranbourne the year before.
“We’ve got a big full forward in (James) Gough who played southern footy in the last couple of years and we’ve been lucky enough to recruit him.”
After being appointed as coach late in the piece ahead of last season, Stanton’s vision for season 2018 focusses on the bigger picture of following the key principles set out as a club.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the club (but) there’s probably some areas that we want to improve upon,” he said.
“I guess professionalism is one area that we’re really focussing on on-field that we need to get better at so we’ve got four or five core principles that we’re going to work to for this year and if we can follow those throughout the course of the year, the results will take care of themselves.
“We’re focusing on continual improvement and trying to find purpose in everything we do, and I think that will hold us in good stead at our level this year.
“It’s about trying to improve the list we’ve got and trying to improve individuals.”
Stanton is hopeful the club will field an under-19s side this season, which will provide much-needed depth as the club looks to further develop its young talent.
“We’re big on promoting kids in our club,” Stanton said.
“We’re confident we’ll form an under-19s team this year, we had four kids last year who were playing under-17s who were given the opportunity (for senior footy).
“We’re focussed on improving ourselves both on and off field.”
The buy-in from the playing group has been flawless according to Stanton, who believes this to be the most enjoyable pre-season he’s ever been involved in during his time in footy.
“Our numbers at training have been really good and I’ve got a real coachable group,” he said
“I’ve been involved in clubs in the past where you’re coaching older guys and they can be difficult to coach at times because they know better, I’ve got a group at the moment who are really buying in to the message that we’re trying to sell them.
“It’s probably been, in all honesty, one of the more enjoyable pre-seasons that I’ve ever been involved in.
“Our numbers have been good, the attitudes of the guys have been good, I’ve actually seen improvement from this time last year to this year, so I think in that regard everything’s going really well.”
Fairpark will host Kilsyth in Round 1 on Saturday, April 7.
