Marion Rams start Southern Football League season with three consecutive 200-point losses
A SUBURBAN Adelaide football club’s officials are staying positive despite the team starting the season with three losses by a combined 708 points, with one saying: “You can’t fault the guys for endeavour.”
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MARION Rams officials are trying to stay positive despite the club starting the Southern Football League season with three losses by a combined 708 points.
The Rams opened their campaign with 207 and 219-point thrashings away to Christies Beach and Happy Valley respectively before suffering a 282-point thumping against Reynella at home on Saturday.
The horror start to the year leaves Marion without an A-grade victory since August 29, 2015.
Compounding matters is the club’s B grade has also been smashed in its three games this season — by 185, 165 and 181 points — and has only kicked one goal so far.
Rams president Jack McCallum said the club was “obviously mortified, disappointed, all of those things” and everyone there was “working their bottoms off” to turn the season around.
“If we had a crystal ball and a magic wand, we’d change it,” McCallum said.
“We fully acknowledge the performances are well below par.
“That’s not where the Marion Football Club wants to be and we’ve got to dig our way out of it with hard work.
“You can’t fault the guys for endeavour, just skill-wise, some of our guys are way behind the eight-ball.
“But we’re keeping a positive attitude because if we all start putting our heads in the sand and crying poor ... the club won’t benefit and neither will the players.”
Rams officials had hoped their club, which was winless last season, would be competitive this year after appointing experienced coach Ben Porter and signing a smattering of recruits.
McCallum said losing the first three games was not a shock but “nobody in their wildest dreams could think those sort of scorelines would occur”.
“But Ben’s remaining positive,” he said.
“I’ve not heard him once dwell on anything against the endeavour the guys have been putting in and he’s just focusing on the important foundations you need to put together to build a side.
“He couldn’t have handled it any better.”
McCallum said the club had plenty of players at trainings but some of them were very inexperienced in football.
He said the club was hopeful of a much improved performance — and possibly even a breakthrough victory — away to fellow winless side O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale on Saturday.
“I’m going into this weekend against Lonsdale thinking ‘well, if we’re ever going to win a game, this is the one we’ve got to pull out all stops to do’.
“My attitude around the club is ‘we can do this — it’s not impossible’.”
Marion’s situation comes three years after fellow SFL club Aldinga opened the 2014 season with consecutive losses totalling 457 points.
The Sharks’ average losing margin that year had been 166 points before Hawthorn great Shane Crawford led them to victory in a one-off appearance for the club.
SFL president Craig Warman said the league was providing ongoing support to the Rams and Porter but the club’s lack of juniors and volunteers was hurting it.
“We will continue to monitor and do what we need to do to try and assist them but we don’t have the magic potion where we can automatically give them what they require, and that’s (quality) players,” Warman said.
MARION’S SEASON SO FAR
Round one: 4.4 (28) lost to Christies Beach 37.13 (235)
Round two: 4.4 (28) lost to Happy Valley 37.25 (247)
Round three: 3.1 (19) lost to Reynella 47.19 (301)