26 DAYS TO GO | EFNL Media will be previewing each club ahead of the 2020 season with the #InFocus2020 series, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
By: Joseph Arthur
AFTER a tough season in 2019, Kilsyth is implementing a plan to turn its luck around and begin to foster an atmosphere of fun and success.
With only three wins to its name last year, the club identified the need for change and has brought in former coach Simon Caldwell, who returns to the senior coaching role for the first time at Kilsyth in six years.
With expectations on the year realistic, the club understands wins and finals won’t come straight away, but it expects to see Caldwell make some inroads into fostering a positive atmosphere for players to thrive in.
“One reason I took the job on is that there was not a lot of expectation from the club on the season,” Caldwell said.
“It’s not so much about result; it’s about changing the culture of the club and getting some of the younger guys through.
“Really, it’s a two-three year sort of thing the club’s looking at, as long as we’re teaching certain things that’s what it’s really after.”
Caldwell isn’t the only identity returning to the club – Kilsyth also welcomes the return of some past players who missed out last year due to injury and work.
“Cameron McArthur, he’ll definitely be part of the leadership group, had last year off with injury but he’s a top player,” Caldwell said.
“Travis Browning only played one game last year because of work but he’s back this year, so those blokes will be a big plus for us.”
Caldwell has also recruited some new faces to club, coming across from his former club, Doveton Eagles.
Having retained all players from last year, Caldwell said he sees these inclusions as bringing nothing but positives for his side.
“The four or five recruits, particularly the blokes I’ve brought with me from Doveton Eagles are really big ins,” Caldwell said.
“One of our full forwards we recruited from Doveton, Adam Reed, he’s been really good, I think he had about 12 or 13 shots in the practice game last week so he looks really impressive for us up forward.”
The main focus for Kilsyth this season will be to compete as best it can whilst also adjusting to a new game plan and continuing to stick to its plan for the future.
“We’ve been doing a lot of stuff on our structures at training and making sure even the under-19s who will come through will know our game style of play,” Caldwell said.
“It probably won’t be Round 1, 2 or 3 when it all clicks, realistically it’ll take some time for everyone to get exactly what we’re doing and that’s what we’re talking about going forward.
“There’s definitely a lot of improvement from last season but we’re not really touching on results this year, it’s a matter of having numbers and making it a fun place to be again.”
Meanwhile, Kilsyth has enlisted Donvale women’s premiership coach Clint Martin to lead the women’s team this season.
With a new batch of players as well as some experienced recruits from Donvale, Martin said he has high hopes for his team’s future prospects, but is being realistic about its competitiveness this season.
“We’ve got a good number of girls – probably 60-70 per cent – who haven’t played any footy, so it’s really starting from the beginning … a big difference from last year,” Martin said.
“We said to ourselves that this year we aren’t setting our goals too high to achieve, this year is a foundation year, just formulating the team.
“We’d be happy with maybe four or five wins if that and we can move from there.”
What is most promising for the team is its recruits, with Martin bringing with him a Donvale best and fairest winner among the new inclusions.
“I brought across Donvale’s best and fairest Felicity Neligen, she’s my key ruck-person and I’ve brought over four other girls from Donvale, so they’ve got some experience and obviously played in premierships too, so they’ve been handy,” Martin said.
“We also have some good first-years, Laura Harris and Reina Lightowler are fast on-ballers and Shannon Gerritzen is an able-bodied defender.
“Overall, I really think one that will go far and will go well again is Felicity (Neligen), being the ruck-person and winning the best and fairest last year, she’s got a lot of experience.
“She’s only a kid who’s 20-something years-old and she’s already got years of seniors experience and two premierships so she’ll go a long way.”
Martin said the signs have been promising throughout the pre-season, with the team really starting to take shape.
“It’s encouraging knowing we have a team straight up and a couple of practice matches organised coming up,” Martin said.
Kilsyth kicks off its season against Forest Hill away on Saturday, April 4, while the women’s fixtures are set to be released at a later date.