Tara Murray
From barely anyone training each week to 40 guys on the track some nights, things have turned around at Lancefield Football Club.
With a focus on just getting people playing football and then progressing from there, the Tigers have seen the club grow ahead of this year’s Riddell District Football League season.
Coach Tom Waters is thrilled with how things are coming along.
“It’s pretty good at the moment,” he said.
“When I came back to the club, it was about trying to get guys back training. We used to have eight guys turn up to training.
“Now we have 30 to 40 turning up. We don’t have superstars, but we’ve got guys who want to play football.
“Getting numbers on the track is a starting point and we’ll progress from there.”
Waters said more than dozen new players had joined the club in the off season, including some from overseas who had never played the game.
He said others had included people who had moved to the town and others who just wanted to play with their mates.
For Waters on field this season, it’s about closing the gap between them and the top sides.
The Tigers won just two games in 2022.
“We were a couple of points down against Wallan at half time and then they beat us by 100 points,” he said.
“We were in each match up and up with some of those teams for a quarter or two quarters.
“We have to play four full quarters to compete with them. We don’t have the top end talent and haven’t recruited liked them and have a group that want to play with their mates.
“But we still want to knock off a few teams above us.
Waters said some of things he had been working on were starting to show through during training.
“Looking at the intra club, they look more attacking. They were really defensive, as they tried not to get beat by 100 points.
“We will get opened up, but we have to take some risks with the game plan and style of footy we want to play.
“We’re on the right track.”
It’ll be a few big weeks for Waters and the Tigers as they look to get an idea on their best line up.
Waters said they weren’t sure who their best team was at this stage,
“A few guys have looked promising at training, but we won’t know until the practice match.
“For us everyone is seen as a senior player, who has the opportunity to play a role. Everyone is a chance to play seniors.”
The Tigers will be without an under-19 side, but look set to have two under-17 teams in a positive sign for the future.
The Tigers start their season on April 2 against Wallan.
