Saville Confident of Sharks Success

With the memory of 2012 still sitting in the back of every East Fremantle supporter's mind, the coaching staff have already moved on from last September's Grand Final defeat and have begun building a squad that could take the Sharks to their 30th Premiership.

Last week they announced the addition of Coburg's James Saville adding to the recruitment of former Docker and Saint, Brett Peake, while they've also retained most of last year's squad.

East Fremantle’s latest recruit is excited about his move to the Sharks, but has taken a leap of faith moving from Coburg, where he was the 2012 Reserves Premiership captain, to Moss Street where he will have to re-build his reputation.

“I felt like at Coburg I’d really achieved all that I could, 

“With the (VFL/AFL) alignments and those types of things, there wasn’t too much more I could do there,”

“I did a bit of research and you could just tell straight away that everyone at East Fremantle is striving for success, which is what I’m also looking for.” He said.

Since moving to Western Australia the 190cm defender has found settling in easy, with League coach Steve Malaxos welcoming him with open arms.

However the 23 year old, who played in Calder Cannon’s 2007 TAC Cup winning side, knows he’s got a lot to prove at the WAFL’s most successful club.

“Obviously he’s (Malaxos) expecting a bit because I’m trying to prove myself to the boys at the club and the coaching staff, but he’s been great,”

“He’s been really encouraging and really welcomed me with open arms, it’s been a really easy transition.” He said.

With pre-season training already in full swing, Saville has been impressed by the playing group’s efforts so far.

“Everyone is having an equal impact with the leaders playing a key role, that’s the main thing I’ve noticed, there wasn’t one or two blokes that stood out,”

“Everyone is trying to get the most out of each session which is really good.” He said.

While an Achilles problem has limited Saville’s training this pre-season, he is working towards playing in East Fremantle’s practice matches in March.

“I’m looking forward to our first practice match… so I’ll probably load up a bit then, get some kilometers back in the legs and hopefully come out fighting fit for that.” He said.

Saville sees many similarities between East Fremantle’s current pre-season and Coburg’s 2012 pre-season after they lost the 2011 Reserves Grand Final.

“East Fremantle have got that core group which really wants to stick around and achieve something, that’s what we tried to build at Coburg and ultimately we did,”

“I think once you get that core group that knows what each others intentions are, then everyone’s on the same track and it’s not that hard to achieve something you are all aspiring towards.” He said.

By Ryan Miller - Follow him on Twitter @Ryan_DMiller.