Pre Season and Recruitment Update

G'Day Sharks Fans,

The 2014 Football year is all but over, with only a few more training sessions to go. I have reflected enough on 2014, so let’s look ahead now.

The recruiting period has been quite different this year, with a lot of action in the December period. Most notably for EF fans has been the acquisition of Liam Anthony. This is a good story for us: A Mid-West Country development player who has returned to EFFC. He adds to Bradd Dalziell, Jayden Schofield, Jack Perham, Brett Peake, Cam Eardley, Kieran King, Jamie McNamara and Richard Hadley as players who have returned to the Sharks in the last 4 years after being in the AFL system.

I often hear that we struggle to get “our” players back from the AFL. As the above illustrates, this is an incorrect assumption based more on years ago than currently.  We have also recruited players who don't have a high profile. As James Bristow showed last year, there can be tremendous surprises from such a group.

Invariably, they are very focused and determined to succeed at their new club.  These players are:

We have trained once per week at Burrendah Reserve. At this venue we are able to have more players involved in full length drills than at EFFC due to increased space. Plus, I like to get away from ATOM Stadium during this period to freshen up players and staff.

Our other 2 ball work sessions have been at EFFC. We have spent considerable time on Kicking, Marking, Handball and Goalkicking with some pleasing results. Of late, we have begun being more specific with a specialized Ruck Group, and a Talls Development group in place. At EF we have a number of promising young ruckmen who should ensure we are well catered in the Ruck for many years ahead.  Jack Fletcher, Cam Symonds, Jake Solomon and Baldave Singh represent a Ruck group who we can develop.

A considerable portion of training in the pre-xmas phase is devoted to physical capacity development. One part of this is running, where youngsters like Jacob Green, Connor Regan and Josh Cuneo have excelled. 

Importantly we have continued to upgrade our Strength and Power program so that we can compete more powerfully in 2015. Player availability in terms of low games missed through injury is a key determinant in team success and indeed, in individual success. Pretty hard to play well if you can’t train properly, or play consistently as a result of injury. In 2014, we exceeded expectations in this area. Part of what we do in preseason is based on minimizing injury by early diagnosis, rehabilitation and our S&C program outlined above.

Our S&C staff led by Ashley Cripps, plus our medical team including Noel Johnstone (Head Trainer), Xavier Cornwall (Physio) and Dr Jonathan Lim (Doctor) all combine to give our players the opportunity to be fit and healthy. Plus our football program is designed for a gradual integration of all the factors relating to on field performance. In other words, we try not to rush things.

We  have also had the players involved in small sided games during pre season, particularly at Burrendah Reserve.  Soccer, amongst other sports are strong devotees of this form of training. It builds decision making both with, and without the ball.

We haven’t done a lot of physical, competitive training. I think most Sharks fans would say that we are a physically combative team. We will  ramp this up in February and ensure that we are ready for our first game vs EP on March 21. The fixture have been released and whilst they are a key platform on which to assess the likely seasons fortunes, there are always surprises.

In December, some games look harder than others. But when the game is near they are all hard.

Finally, I look forward to seeing you in 2015.

Go Sharks!