Stawell’s football teams were ravaged by injury in 2017, but a number of positives have been taken away from the season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Warriors carried the tag of premiership favourite by some of the football community going into the season, having recruited strongly in the off-season.
The addition of Sean Mantell to the midfield as well as Travis Graham to the forward half highlighted the big name additions, but the wheels fell off quickly for Stawell.
A cast of injuries forced the Warriors to play a number of young and inexperienced players, with 40 players getting game time in the senior side by the end of the season.
Despite the injury toll, Stawell’s footballers still managed to qualify for finals in the senior, reserves and under-17 competition’s.
Despite elimination finals losses to the senior and reserves teams, the Warriors remain positive about the season just gone.
Stawell football director Shane Field said it is not all doom and gloom at Central Park.
“Inside our own four walls we understand our season,” he said.
“There was a fair bit of inconsistency due to not having the same team able to play together week by week and gel as a unit.
“We got to blood a few younger guys that might not have gotten an opportunity without those injuries.”
2017 was the 22-year-old Tom Eckel’s first season as head coach of the Warriors. Field said Eckel did a great job for such a young player.
“Tom did a great job for a young guy. He got the hang of playing and coaching after a few games which was good to see,” Field said.
“He related to the players well and is a very passionate person. He is a Stawell man through and through.”
The Warriors will farewell Julian Carr and Dan Matthews who announced their retirements.
Stawell will look to fill their spots in the off-season, eyeing off another strong recruiting process similar to last year.
The potential return of Greater Western Victoria Rebels stars Naish McRoberts and Jackson Taurau also has the club excited for 2018.
“Those boys were fantastic when they played with us this year,” Field said.
“Hopefully we can hold onto them. They’re leadership and understanding of the game developed with the Rebels adds a lot to our team.”
Field said the club is confident of bouncing back into premiership contention 2018.
“We are probably six senior players shy of a premiership contending team,” he said.
“We didn’t quite have the depth this year due to injuries but hopefully next season we will be a bit luckier and be able to compete for the whole season.”
