The road back to relevancy may be a long one for Melton South in the Ballarat Football League but this off season seems like it may just have got the Panthers back on track.
New coach Travis Hodgson said the club has seen a mammoth growth in numbers on the track this pre-season as a strong culture is building at the Melton Recreation Reserve.
“We’ve probably had between 35 and 50 for most of the preseason, which has been a lot more than we’ve had in recent years, so the numbers have been good,” he said.
“We went up to Wodonga on the weekend for our first practice match, we got beat pretty comprehensively, but we took 40 players up with us, so it again just reinforces how committed the group are to getting better.
“To take 40 up that far, you know, a three hour road trip is a fair effort. Things are going really well, numbers wise and there’s a really, really good vibe around the place at the moment.”
Adding to the numbers at training and culture at the club is the long list of experienced players that have been added to the Panthers list.
“That’s one thing we have probably targeted, that experienced age group,” Hodgson said.
“They’re definitely having a good impact on the younger guys at the club. Patty Vispremi has had a really solid preseason and he’s been really good with the younger guys.
“Jaden Welsh and Anthony Wilson, they’re both pretty experienced players that have got a lot of knowledge to impart on the younger guys, they’re both 30.
“We’ve added a fair few players of the right age for our needs and where we’re at.”
Wilson is one of the recruits of the BFL off season, signing at the Panthers for the next two seasons.
The 31-year-old was drafted by Adelaide with pick number 44 in the 2014 AFL Rookie Draft, but he was unable to crack into the Crows’ senior team. He played two games for Port Adelaide at SANFL level last season and has played over 100 state league games for Norwood, Adelaide and the Magpies.
“He’s a very exciting player,” Hodgson said. “He’s a genuine A-grader.
“They’re hard to get and when they are good fellas as well and they’re prepared to work with the young kids, it really adds to what they bring to the group.
“He’s a very exciting player, he’s a sort of player that is great to watch. Elite speed and agility and very highly skilled.”
Despite the good signs early, Hodgson is well aware his side is coming from a long way back, with just three wins since the 2021 season, and none last year.
“We’ll do a fair bit of goal setting over the next month, but those goals will be more game based,” he said.
“They’ll be in-game goals. I can’t see we’ll be at a stage before the season starts to be predicting a certain number of wins. We’re coming off a 160 point average losing margin.
“Our goals will be little things like the amount of times we go inside 50 compared to the amount of inside 50s we concede, the way we move the ball, the way we defend as a team, we’ll have a lot of KPIs in those areas without putting any win loss expectations on ourselves.”
The Panthers will kick off their season against rivals Melton on April 13.
