FQPL3 South Coast: Nerang Eagles president reveals the club will ‘tough it out’ after crisis meeting with players
A recruitment drive is underway as a Gold Coast football club attempt to salvage their season and pave a path to future success.
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The Nerang Eagles are not going anywhere, club president Fred Stone declared, as the South Coast Premier League outfit launched a recruitment drive primed to take them into the future.
On Tuesday night, Stone called an emergency meeting to address coach Dominque Dorbeaux’s abrupt exit following a challenging opening seven rounds of the FQPL3 South Coast campaign.
However what came out of the talks was a resolve to remain in the fight and not withdraw their top men’s side in what is the club’s 50th anniversary season.
Eagles assistant coach and former player Paul Cockbain will take over the team as the hunt for a permanent successor begins, and Stone said they were seeking a new generation of players to join the Nerang ranks.
But he said an important take away from Tuesday’s crisis talks was to ensure the current playing group knew they had the support of the club, and were prepared to fight for long-term success, even if it meant some tough patches moving forward.
“We’re definitely staying, we didn’t want to drop out. It was just a matter of talking to the players and saying we’re 100 per cent behind you, so we don’t want anybody to leave,” Stone said.
“The number one (discussion point) was numbers, to make sure we had the numbers to do it and the players were 100 per cent committed to playing and obviously the guys who turned up are guys who have been committed all year.
“The other one was the fact as a club we’re 100 pec cent behind them, there’s nothing worse than feeling like the club doesn’t really want you there.
“We’ve never pulled out of a league, this is probably the worst season we’ve ever had but over the years – even when things are bad – you don’t just pull the pin, drop out and say it’s too hard.
“That’s when you need to stick together and tough it out.”
While the Eagles have endured a winless start to 2022, with a goal differential of -53, Stone said they were not hitting the panic button in the face of those results.
The Nerang president believed there were opportunities for young players around the Gold Coast to earn greater minutes in the top competition by making the shift as they plotted a return to title contention in the years to come.
He said regardless of how successful their recruitment proved to be the Eagles would not be bowing out of the competition.
“We would like to develop a young squad moving forward for the future of the club, people who want to stay long term, but I’ve always believed you need a good mixture of youth and experience,” Stone said.
“I’m not looking at a fix for short term, I want a long-term project sort of thing. Over the next two or three years we can develop a good young squad moving forward for the years to come.”
Shock exit: Gold Coast club set to walk from comp, coach quits
NERANG Eagles president Fred Stone will meet with the senior playing group on Tuesday night to make a call on whether the club will be forced to withdraw from the FQPL3 South Coast competition.
Stone told The Bulletin he called the crisis meeting with the playing group after senior coach Dominique Dorbeaux quit following Nerang’s 15-0 loss to Kingscliff on Saturday.
Nerang sits bottom of the FQPL3 South Coast table with a -53 goal difference after seven games.
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Stone, who is two years into his second stint as Eagles president, said having to withdraw its senior team would be one of the hardest things the club had endured in its 50-year history.
‘I’ve been with the club since day dot, since 1972. We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this year,” he said.
“You don’t want to have to pull a team out midway through the season, especially when it’s your number one team. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.”
He said the club was blindsided in the off-season when then-head coach Lee Vernon defected to Robina City, with a large portion of the squad following him.
“Then AFA (Academy of Football Australia) decided they wanted to leave a couple of weeks later … that left us with a big hole to fill,” Stone said.
“To find a coach and players on such short notice was very hard.”
Dorbeaux was brought in to help right the ship but just eight games into the season he pulled the pin.
“I coached Dom when he played (at Nerang). I’ve known him for a long time and it’s disappointing,” Stone said.
“It was just getting to the point he felt he couldn’t get the most out of the players.”
Stone said he would inform FQ South Coast of the club’s decision after Tuesday night’s meeting with players.
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