Hello again to all supporters,

Having just completed our first practice match commitment I thought it would be a good time to update you on our progress. You will also note we have included in this mail out a letter from the President, an invitation to participate in this season’s Jumper Presentation Night, our social calendar plus the membership flyer. Clearly, our membership drive is paramount to our plans for “Fight Back 09”. Our commitment to improve facilities for both players and supporters has commenced and you will notice improvements to our facilities at Glenhuntly in the change rooms and in the social area. The scheduling continues for extensive improvements to the social area with professional plans drawn up accordingly. Your support by way of membership is essential.

We journeyed to Werribee for the first practice matches (seniors, reserves and U19’s) to play in excellent surface conditions although extremely hot and windy. The Werribee Amateur Football Club have been the big improvers in recent seasons having come up 2 sections in 2 seasons with a number of premierships at senior and U19 level. Our U19’s were defeated in the last few minutes mainly due to not having any interchange players for the last quarter. Ben Gross, our U19 coach, was more than satisfied in the circumstances. The Reserves won comfortably after starting slowly and will continue to strengthen their line-up in coming weeks. The senior game saw a bigger Werribee side start well before being overrun by our noticeably fit team. A winning margin of 7 goals was very pleasing to Steve Lawrence, especially the manner in which our players finished strongly. The work undertaken to date by our Fitness and Conditioning Coach, Russell Jarrett, provides us with additional confidence for the months ahead.

We estimate there were 6 players unavailable for the senior game who will warrant serious consideration for Round 1. This of course not only strengthens the senior team cause as the Reserves will benefit and the U19’s will receive a few back as well. As usual, Ben Gross and Reserves’ Coach, James Lawson, were able to provide Steve Lawrence with additional names for consideration in the coming weeks after the impressive performance of their respective teams. Steve’s prediction at this stage is that selection will be extremely challenging for coaches and players alike. This is in direct contrast to the 2008 season when numbers and experience were really lacking.

There have been a number of the latest recruits, mainly from School, who have trained exceptionally well and have been given opportunities to be considered for senior football and frankly have been making selection considerations very hard; a very encouraging sign for us. These new guys along with second year recruits are the reason we are so confident about the future. When you add those from the last two years to the quality players aged under 22 and the strong group who have survived the last two seasons, there is much to look forward to.

Some names to look out for – David Allanson, Chris Axais, Tim Baker, Chris Game, Rob Hyland, Justin Kremmer, Robbie Lamont, Ryan Lewis, Matt Linklater, Jack McLean, Ben McLoughlin, Zach Parsons, Will Rathgeber, Tom Small, Dean Spanos, Dylan Tobias and Jackson Young – all still qualify as U19 and all training impressively.

New to the 2009 list – Tom Breen, Gavin Colosimo, Cal Jones, Tom Spinks, Tim Gerrand, Mark Liddell, Jay Rowlings, Josh Smith and Alex Townsend. All except Tom and Josh have worn the blue and white previously.

Young guns from last season’s U19’s training really well – Alex Ford, Ben Price, Luke Spinks, Dom O’Keefe, Darcy Daly, Fran McArdle, Mark Nelson, Jordan Stewart, Cam Penberthy and Sean Meredith.    

I have not mentioned the stalwarts individually, they are simply the heart and soul of CGFC and will, with the abovementioned, provide the perfect blend for “Fight Back 09”.   GO FIELDS.

Kind regards,

Geoff Reilley, on behalf of the CGFC Board