Photo credit: FTGFC Pics
By: Joseph Arthur
FOLLOWING a loss to Division 3 ladder-leader South Belgrave in Round 1, Ferntree Gully has since won four in a row as it looks to return to finals for the first time since 2016.
After a comfortable win over the Waverley Blues on the weekend, senior coach Peter Farrell is excited with the upside he sees in the team.
“We’re pretty mindful of our defensive systems and we’ve been executing them reasonably well,” Farrell said.
“We’d still like to kick a few more goals, we’re plugging away at that and obviously our ball movement and some other structural stuff, so we still feel that we’ve got a lot of upside.
“It’s been good to contain sides, giving us opportunity to win games which is awesome.”
Despite positive signs and a terrific structure defensively, the coach said that he is wary of the Eagles’ struggles to kick big scores.
Efficiency in front of the big sticks and delivery across the half forward line are two things that need to be addressed according to Farrell.
“Just trying to improve week in week out, we’ve got lots of key areas we still need to improve on,” he said.
“Our ball movement is a big one, it’s something we’ve been working pretty hard at, just the quality of our forward entry.
“We’d probably like to kick a few more goals with our set shots but that’s just more practice and confidence that’ll come.
“We’ve got a mixture of players in our forward half, a lot of younger guys, that’s the one thing that’ll help us score more goals.
“Everything is ongoing and we want to get better at everything we’re doing.”
Ferntree Gully has benefitted from both the development of experienced players with the introduction of new and returning faces adding more depth to the club, including ex-Scoresby ruckman Daniel De Ieso, along with 2017 Perc James medallist Sean Currey after crossing from Kilsyth.
Daniel De Ieso palms the ball down on the weekend. PHOTO: FTGFC Pics
Farrell said that he has a squad of over 30 players who he is confident in to compete at senior level, giving him plenty of options and some tough decisions on game day.
“It’s been great to get these guys on board, they bring with them a wealth of experience and they fill some gaps for us which we sort of knew existed through the course of last season,” he said.
“They’ve been really good and their engagement with the whole footy club and the whole process has been outstanding.
“It’s probably our 22-23-year-olds who are now playing their fourth season of senior footy that are starting to come into their own a bit too.
“They continue to get a bit stronger, a bit fitter, a bit smarter with their footy IQ and we’re probably starting to see the benefits of that.”
After a tough season last year, the Eagles have made significant inroads towards getting to where they want to be as a footy club.
“We battled last year for a variety of reasons, we didn’t win enough games of footy, I don’t think we were fit enough and we probably had a few gaps in our personnel,” Farrell said.
“But we’re also a club that’s trying to build from within and build a really deep foundation.
“We’re probably where we need to be at the moment and we’re just trying to build something where we can keep progressing and keep moving forward as a club.”
Third-placed Ferntree Gully will meet second-placed Warrandyte this week away from home, with both clubs currently boasting a 4-1 record.
