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Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 Page 19
Sport
WRFL Preview season 2014 4s eason
League’s season of change starts By LIAM TWOMEY
A lb io n Coach: Aaron Tymms Last year: Eighth Who’s in: Troy Kelm, Jamie Talbett, Joshua Sims Who’s out: Todd Finco
A lt o n a Coach: Josh Russo Last year: Fourth Who’s in: Josh Dunstone, Jack Marlais Who’s out: Travis Lunardi, Kane McKenzie, Anthony Chiu
Deer Park Coach: Marc Bullen Last year: Premier Who’s in: Bret Thornton, Brent Guerra, Ryan Houlihan Who’s out: Shannon Broadbent, Luke Buttigieg, Kevin Klix
Hoppers Crossing Coach: Steve Kretiuk Last year: Sixth Who’s in: Wayde Skipper Who’s out: Kieran Butty, Brodie Moles, James Mulligan
Port Melbourne Coach: Jason Love Last year: Seventh Who’s in: Danny Jacobs Who’s out: Trent Gates, Billy Walter
Spotswood Coach: Tom Langlands Last year: Runners Up Who’s in: Andrew Martin Who’s out: Chris O’Keefe, Elliott Wood
St Albans Coach: Marcus Barclay Last year: Fifth Who’s in: Sam Stephens, James Stephens Who’s out: Anthony Piva, Dean O’Shea
Sunshine Coach: Brett Jacobs Last year: Third Who’s in: Matthew Smith, Liam Reeves Who’s out: Kieran Murphy, Jake Butterworth
Werribee Coach: Wade Chapman Last year: Played in the VAFA Who’s in: Brent Prismall, Brent Morrow, Tate McCutcheon Who’s out: Billy Wallace, Jordan Williams
Yarraville-Seddon Coach: Jesse Smith Last year: Ninth Who’s in: Daniel Burton, Giles Guest, Jessi Lampi Who’s out: Scott Krakour, Liam Ryan
THE 2014 Western Region Football League season is shaping up as one of the most interesting in the league’s history. As well as the battle for top honours in Division One, there are a number of sub-plots set to play out throughout the season. Across Divisions One and Two, 17 new coaches will take the reins in round one. After round 13, the bottom six teams in Division Two will make up the newly created Division Three. For the second successive year, the WRFL will also have a brand new club with the Tarneit Titans making their debut. However, league CEO Bob Tregear isn’t taking his eyes off the future. After a lot of hard work, he and his board have got the league going upwards at a rate of knots and they are keen to continue the trend. One of their key goals during the next few years is to continue expanding the league with Tregear nominating a number of possible locations for new clubs. “It (the formation of new clubs) will happen in the new development areas,” Tregear said. “In Wyndham it will be places like Williams Landing and Truganina where there are new developments. We are also looking further north and, as the Melton corridor develops south, we will also be looking to develop clubs there.” However, the league is making sure it isn’t focusing on expansion to the detriment of its current clubs. Tregear added that finding a way to help struggling clubs is a key priority. “We are talking to AFL Victoria about how to do that at the moment,” Tregear said. “It is really a matter of having
A whole season’s work came down to one point in last year’s WRFL Division One competition. 105750 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI enough financial resources to do that. Some of those clubs really need some on-the-spot help. “It is going to take time and money to do that but we need to find a way to achieve that and raise the funds to do it. “We are very confident that we will keep all of the clubs we have got and we will be able to develop
some new ones as well.” Building on the expanding senior competition, the WRFL is also enjoying healthy growth in the juniors. The league is expecting at least six new junior teams to compete in the competition this season. Its only area of concern is the under-18 grade, which had just 14 teams last year.
“The under-18s will be the challenge,” Tregear said. “We were down to 14 teams last year and we are hoping for 16 or 17 this year. We really need to have about 24. “It took a dive last year so it is up one year down the next. It’s not enough to say it is a trend. I think it creates a challenge for everybody.”
West on rise in league clash of champions By LIAM TWOMEY THE Western Region Football League celebrated its return to interleague football with an impressive 37-point win on Saturday. Taking on the Southern Football League at Visy Park, the WRFL side looked in complete control throughout the contest and led at every change. Matthew Dean, Kwame McHarg and captain Jason Cloke were all among the best players, while Lee Spiteri was presented with the medal for the most valuable player. WRFL coach Brett Jacobs was rapt with his side’s performance. “We weren’t expecting a six-goal win, that’s for sure,” he said. “At the start we said 10 to 12 goals would probably win it so we thought it would be a low scoring game. We put a big emphasis on pressure. Being a preseason format we were sure that would be the best way to go and ... it worked for us.” Despite still coaching his own team (Sunshine), Jacobs said he and his coaching group found time to scout the SFL before the match. “We did a bit of work on the footy forums, Big Footy and what not,” he said.
“We did as much research as we could and looked at club websites and all that sort of stuff. We got some valuable information. I shouted one of my old mates who played in the league a lunch earlier this week and got a bit of juice out of him so it was all beneficial.” After starting the interleague format ranked number five, the WRFL now jumps to number four and will take on the Eastern Football League next season. The winner of that match will earn the right to play for the number one ranking the following year. “We were very happy with the process,” Jacobs said. “The majority of the players in the league made themselves available. We had a good squad to choose from. We had some great support. Steve Thom has been awesome through the whole process. Tymmsy (assistant coach Aaron Tymms) and Freez (assistant coach Aaron Freeland) have been terrific for me. “I think you will find a lot more players will put their hand up to participate next year. We hope it stays on for a few more years. I am a big fan of it and think it is fantastic.”
Jason Cloke was among the best players for the WRFL interleague side. 117655 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
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