New brand of footy at Lions

Last year we got a taste for coaching, but only the game side of the job, because we took over after the season had already begun.

Jason and I couldn’t be more excited for the upcoming season to put our stamp on the footy club with our brand of footy.

Another reason for the excitement is the quality of footballers and people we have not only returning to the club but bringing to the club for their first year.

Returning to the den are Tom Freeman, Lachlan Waite and Nick Clydesdale who have all played numerous senior games at the club and are all versatile in their ability to play all over the ground.

These three guys will help us be adaptable to the opposition we face week to week.

Also two new faces have already committed to the club for 2019 in Tom McConville and Harrison Wade.

Both played football at Coburg Football Club and have since played at the powerhouse Aberfeldie in the EDFL and had a run with their old school team PEGS last year.

These two will bring knowledge and leadership to the Lions and will give extra depth to the midfield and surrounding positions.

Jason and I admit recruiting is one of the tougher sides of coaching that we didn’t expect with both of us spending numerous hours on the phone contacting players.

We are both still hopeful for one or two late signings to top up the senior list going into the forthcoming season.

Jordan Hockley will also be like a new recruit for us this year since going through an ACL reconstruction after injuring his knee in a practice match last year and missing the entire season.

Jordan is as keen as mustard and his dedication to rehab and training will surely see him have a great season back in the Lions jumper.

Jason, after having a couple of surgeries in the off season, should be ready for round one, and myself, after suffering the same injury as Jordan mid-year, will most likely make a return in the first part of the season.

The injuries sustained to a huge chunk of our playing list in 2018 were detrimental to our season but it did give the opportunity for a number of players to make their senior debuts and get a taste for senior footy.

We had 41 different players field the 21 senior positions throughout the season so this was a definite positive coming out of the season.

There isn’t a large number of under-18 graduates this year coming up into the senior footy ranks but the ones who have been impressing on the track consistently are Dylan Hockley, Wyatt Deed, Tom and Nic Davey.

The young Lions went deep into finals last year and fell short in the preliminary final, but with a large contingent being bottom-age players it should hold them in good stead this season under new coach Trav Blackwell.

There will be opportunity for these now top-age players to play regular senior footy if they keep working hard and improving their craft.

Dylan Cook, Huwy Jones, Sam Durham and Ben Rigoni will be the ones to watch fighting for positions.

The first weekend of February saw the group have their training camp in and around Seymour.

Friday night saw the boys have a solid footy session with everyone getting plenty of touch and continuing to work on game-play structures.

Saturday morning started the Amazing Race challenge between four dedicated groups. Thirty committed individuals ran 40km that saw multiple stations spread around Seymour from Kings Park to Seymour Racetrack and out to the Highlands.

A massive thanks to sponsors and all the individual volunteers that helped on the day, it is people like you that keep our club running.

Everybody who took part impressed the coaches with their commitment and persistent effort to get through the challenges.

The three that impressed the coaches the most were Rory Scopel for his leadership, Oliver Lubeck for digging deeper than he ever has, and Ben Tarran for doing the Amazing Race in the morning and going straight into opening the batting for his cricket side Yea to make a stellar 28 runs setting up a victory at Kings Park.

Thursday, February 7 saw 11 Seymour footballers commute to Melbourne to get an invaluable experience of training at the Holden Centre with the Collingwood VFL side.

The boys who put their hands up for the opportunity were exposed to the AFL facilities and a chance to take it up against the level above.

The 11 boys were grateful for the opportunity and have gained valuable learning about the game that they can bring back to their team mates.

After only losing one player during the off season and adding in some quality players on top of our returning injury list, 2019 looks like a promising year for Seymour Lions.

The season starts with a home game on April 6 hosting Mansfield. Before that though we have three practise matches against three hardened football sides starting with Bundoora on Friday, March 8, hopefully under lights, at Kings Park.

Then the two following weeks we will play against two Bendigo sides in Strathfieldsaye, and former Lions coach Bernie Haberman’s side Golden Square.

Seymour Lions 2019 coaches:

Football:

Seniors: Ben Clifton and Jason Cole

Reserves:

Under-18s: Travis Blackwell

Netball:

A-grade: Elle McDonald

B-grade: Marlee Koopman

B-reserve: Roslyn Rutherford

17-and-under: Courtney Aldous

15-and-under: Ellie O’Sullivan