Wilston Grange are hoping to go further in September this season.
The Wilston Grange Gorillas are looking to make their stamp on the finals in the Allied Pickfords Cup this season.
After consecutive elimination final exits in 2011 and 2012, the Gorillas’ new senior coach, Matt Trewhella, said the club was looking to progress further at the pointy end of the season.
“Losing two years in a row so early in finals is a real motivator for our younger players to go further and improve on previous results,” he said.
“Our biggest improvement will come from the players already at the club. We have about 15 players with 50+ games of senior experience now.”
After an injury-marred 2012, Trewhella said the side had focused primarily on getting their list healthy in the pre-season.
“We were forced to put players on modified programs (myself included) so we are right to go for our Round one Noosa road trip,” he said.
“We don’t want to have players not training or carrying injuries so we have introduced more medical support staff for training nights and games to look after the players.”
Young guns Dene Edwards and Liam McIvor (son of former Fitzroy player, Scott McIvor) could make a major impact this season, after impressing in pre-season training.
Jimmy McMahon will be making his return from a broken leg this season, which will inject some height into their ruck division.
Off the field, the Gorillas have brought former Mt Gravatt assistant, Paul Mills, in as the new director of football.
Grayson McIvor has stood out to Trewhella this pre-season, and should be ready to go, in his return from injury.
“[Grayson] has taken the attention of all of the coaching staff with his application at training and his ability to adapt to our training style,” Trewhella said.
“He has the potential to be a leader of our club and a quality player for us.”
With the level of the Division One competition increasing in recent years, Trewhella said the Gorillas had plenty of work to do to make a dent in September action this season.
“The standard of this league has lifted even in the last year, becoming more professional on & off field so we also need to progress to stay competitive,” he said.
“The better teams in the league are fit, competitive and disciplined. We want to improve in all of those areas so we can win consistently against top teams and improve on our position from last year.”
Trewhella is stepping up to be playing coach this season and said planning would be the key to success in this role.
“The assistant coaches will take care of the box during matches, as all the planning for match day will have been done at training during the week,” he said.
“I know I will be looked at more closely on and off field but I have a great group of coaches and senior players around me to support the new structure.”
Wilston Grange kicks off its 2013 campaign on Saturday April 20 against Noosa at Weyba Rd.
For the full fixture, click here.
Wilston Grange Ins 2013
Aleks Mathewson
Robert Thompson
Leon Lechner
Ben Haire
Jordan McDonald
Matt Wetner
Outs
Matt Shir
Brodie Shade
Kristen Higgs
Gus Armstrong
Scott Wood
Billy Oswell
Dylan Brooks
Lee Fazackerley
