Home  Newsletters CGFC Newsletter #1 of 2008
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CGFC Newsletter #1 of 2008 |
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CGFC Newsletter #1 of 2008
Hello again to all supporters. At the time of writing, our pre-season has again been disrupted by lack of appropriate training grounds with suitably grassed surfaces. Without the support of our School we would be in even more difficult circumstances as the Lindsay Thompson Sports Centre is available to us regularly. Understandably, the indoor training sessions in the Sports Hall at the Thompson Centre must be used sparingly to avoid over training on a hard surface but the facility also has the advantage of the well equipped weight room as a further option. Regrettably (but good for the School) the Mills Oval has experienced a complete re-laying of its surface with better suited drought resistant grass and therefore ‘the Mills’ is out of bounds until after first school term. We have had to seek grassed areas in and around Elwood to allow some ball skills on softer surfaces.
Initially we trained Mondays in the Thompson Centre and Wednesdays/Fridays, in a ‘gypsy like’ group, wherever we could locate unused grass areas without upsetting council rules. We are now training Tuesdays/Thursdays wherever we can find space in the Elwood area. In truth, this does affect training attendances although generally the boys have been very understanding of the difficulties with training facilities. The last week in fact has seen a considerable boost in numbers. We also have ground at Wheelers Hill to train on and hope to utilise it in the coming weeks.
We currently have some ‘irons in the fire’ to hire other available and suitable grounds but I guess we are one of a number of clubs ‘in the queue! Hopefully we can avail of our home ground at Glenhuntly sooner than last year but it is not in pristine condition and the Glen Eira Council will determine our occupancy date and we may not be able to play some of our early rounds there. Like many parts of the State, sports ovals are in desperate need of good rains.
We have started to welcome some of the class of 2007 School squads members to training and are hopeful that a good number of the APS premiership winning squad will join CGFC in 2008. Presentations were made to the senior footballers from each campus prior to the exam period and we were more than pleased with the response. There are certainly some very promising lads in this group.
We will also welcome back a few senior players who did not compete fully last season due to injury and unavailability. Of these, Ben Carboni, Ben Gross, Ben Evans, Cody Royal and Andrew Ross have been prominent early.
The announcement of the appointment of our new Senior Coach, Gary Colling and new Assistant Senior Coach, David Landrigan, was very well received by the playing group. The respective football backgrounds of Gary and David were well documented in previous bulletins to our player and supporter base. The blend of their experience will be integral in the next stage of our planning and both have warmed to the task of heading up our 2008 campaign. Past player, Chris Mathieson, with a proven CGFC coaching record at both U19 and Reserve level, including the 2001 U19 premiership, has returned to ensure that our under age squad maximise their opportunities in the coming months. James Lawson will enter his second season as Reserves’ Coach and will provide valuable support to Gary and David. I look forward to assisting the coaching panel in a coordinating role and can state that we have never been better placed with our combination of appointed coaches.
Former Caulfield Grammar star footballer, Mark Chaffey is excited to not only be joining mates at CGFC but will follow the family tradition at CGFC. Mark’s father, Alan, was a star for the Grammarians in the sixties and seventies including State representation in the Victorian Amateur team. Mark travelled overseas after retiring from Richmond and can’t wait to be back in harness, especially in the famous blue and white jumper. Andrew Kellaway has also indicated his strong desire to join ‘Chaff’ subject to organizing his future working career and he and brother Duncan have been at training as often as possible since the Christmas break. The three former ‘Tiger stars’ certainly lift the quality of training. Duncan too hopes to make himself available whenever his commitments at Geelong FC allow. The name of Kellaway continues to mean so much to football within the Caulfield Grammar community. Ben Evans and Ben Gross will also be available after missing the 2007 season and their skill and experience will add to our skill stocks immeasurably.
As mentioned earlier, Ben Carboni, Codey Royle and Andrew Ross suffered severe injuries early in 2007 and will be like new recruits for us although ‘Rossy’ will be venturing overseas for part of the season along with a few of the other ‘young guns’. The continuing development of some of the younger reserve squad members of 2007 should see a number of them pressuring regular senior team players.
We had been hoping that our leading player and State representative, Mark Liddell, may return from his sojourn in the UK to boost our all round stocks but regrettably for us, (whilst good for Mark and his partner, Marie), things are working out too well in London for them to return just yet. Our President, Matt Scholten, has been in London recently and caught up with Mark and Marie. Both are well and living in fashionable Fulham. They seem well adjusted to life in London and those yearning to see the blonde number 4 back in action for the Fields may be disappointed as both are excelling professionally. Mark is with DMS Private Wealth and Marie with global financial giant Bear Sterns. In addition to enhancing their professional lives, they have travelled through Europe whenever the opportunity has arisen and have another exciting trip to the continent coming up in a few weeks.
We have welcomed a couple of new recruits in Andrew Slevison and Rhys Dahl to pre-season training and every effort will be made to convince these two key forward players to don the Blue and White in 2008. These recruits are critical to us as our star forward, Brett Sinclair, will be playing for Southport in the Queensland AFL in whilst pursuing employment opportunities up north. Not an easy decision for Brett to leave CGFC for 2008 but he has stated that he will be back at the Glenhuntly ground hopefully in 2009 to ‘look after’ brother Andy and Callum! By that time maybe the Sinclair trio will emulate the feats of the three Tootells who all played with such distinction for the Blue and White in the past. We hope Callum will have the opportunity to play with our U19’s in conjunction with his Sandy Dragon’s commitments.
We have improved lighting at Glenhuntly Oval which should make a huge difference at training and we anticipate further enhancements at our home ground for the benefit of all members and players. We were delighted to welcome some input from current players’ parents at our first two committee meetings, especially given the football and/or business experience that each of them possesses. They not only gave us valuable feed back as to expectations of regular supporters but have offered to assist in varying ways toward our plans for better facilities for all at CGFC.
Our membership packages will be finalised shortly and details will be available by further newsletter and via our website. We need a further increase in membership to meet the ever growing financial demands of running a football club. We will also forward fixtures for the coming season.
Our website will be re-designed and we look forward to promoting this facility shortly. For those who visit the VAFA’s website, it is also being redeveloped and should be completed shortly.
Yes it is all happening behind the scenes and following the disappointment of 2007 in terms of finishing down the ladder, we all appreciate even more the need to be pro-active and not look for excuses. We look forward to providing more information over the coming weeks and as always, we look for your ongoing support and take up of our membership offerings.
Kind regards,
Geoff Reilley - Membership Manager |
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Next Week
Next match: 2009.
Leading Goalkickers
Seniors
Slevison 46
Carboni 22
C. Sinclair 18
Reserves
Poulter 27
McCahon 11
Kalaja 9
Under 19's
McGlashan 43
C.Sinclair 31
A. Ford 16
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