Tara Murray
Things are starting to grow at Albion ahead for the Western Region Football League division 2 season.
After a mountain of hard work in the last couple of years to get the team back on track, things have started to fall into place.
Coach James Doherty said something just clicked after the group returned to the track in the new year. He said throughout the last two COVID-19 affected seasons, players didn’t want to train and had no motivation.
“When I took over a few years back we were struggling for numbers and it was pretty dismissal,” he said.
“We were getting 20 guys training. We’ve had 70 guys through this pre-season which is amazing with a lot of guys returning, who haven’t played for the club for a few years.
“It took a lot of work to get from 20 players to 60, but something just clicked. Good signs are there.”
Doherty said they continue to make the club, where the environment is the most important thing, rather than results.
He said for a lot of people, they just want to get out of the house after the pandemic and lockdowns.
“Word has spread,” he said.
“We want to make sure that the guys are enjoying their footy just like when they were teenagers. It doesn’t matter if you’re 12 or 30, we want you to enjoy your football.”
Doherty said there were probably about seven of their off season recruits who were capable of playing seniors, with most of them to play round one.
Caleb McPherson, Darcy McPherson, Justin Zahra, Anthony Franzone, Tom Murray, Roger Cini, and Jay Cabara are among the recruits expected to play a role.
Doherty said from his end, nothing changes this season, but he’s getting a different vibe from the group.
The Cats finished last season in sixth spot with four wins.
“You can tell the guys’ focus has significantly changed,” he said.
“We will be more competitive than last year and last year we were competitive.
“The way we are training, the commitment. It’s leading into the whole ideology what we are trying to achieve.”
The Cats were set to start their season on Saturday against West Footscray after deadline.
In other round one matches, North Footscray was set to host Newport, Point Cook Centrals were to play Glen Orden and Wyndhamvale was due to play Parkside.
In division 1, Altona was set to play St Albans, Caroline Springs was to host Deer Park, Sunshine was set to face Hoppers Crossing, Yarraville Seddon was to host Spotswood, while Point Cook was to host Werribee Districts.
In division 3, Braybrook was to play Laverton, North Sunshine was to Suns and Tarneit was to play Albanvale.
For results from across the WRFL opening round, head to www.starweekly.com.au.
Tara Murray
