Brent Macaffer commits to Eltham for 2021 with premiership expectations
Eltham star Brent Macaffer spurred rival offers to re-sign with the Panthers for 2021 and hasn’t shied away from revealing his NFL Division 2 premiership expectations for next season.
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Eltham star Brent Macaffer has left no doubt about his expectations for 2021 after recommitting to the club.
The Collingwood premiership star said it was “flag or fail” for the Panthers after coming agonisingly close in the past two seasons.
Locked in for next season, there’s a burning ambition to bring a premiership to Central Park and help the club return to NFL Division 1.
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“Absolutely, there’s expectations, a premiership, that’s the expectation,” he said.
“We know we’re good enough, we fell at the last hurdle two years ago and 2019 we couldn’t get over the side that went on to win it, in Whittlesea.
“The expectation is we win a grand final and anything less than that is a fail and that’s not good enough.
“This group knows that. We’ve had enough of getting close and not getting it done.
“It’s flag or fail as far as I’m concerned and I would assume the rest of the club would expect that as well.”
The Division 2 league best-and-fairest and two-time Panthers club champion revealed there had been offers from clubs but he never considered leaving the club he joined in 2018.
“I love the place … there was never any doubt, it was just a matter of getting it sorted and working out what the new salary cap looks like,” Macaffer said.
“There were a couple of phone calls but the priority was to stay at Eltham and play with my best mates.
“There were some interesting offers and you always have to consider things, especially in the world we’re living in at the moment, but when it came down to it the pull of staying at Eltham was pretty strong.”
Macaffer is especially confident in the Panthers’ playing group under new coach Robert Hyde.
Bradyn Taglieri, Jackson Weatherald, Marc O’Regan (all Balwyn) and James Taglieri all signed for 2020 while Matthew Keys (Shepparton Swans) and Adam Oxley (Redland, NEAFL) had departed.
Eltham’s brigade of young talent is also ready to step up after claiming the Division 1 Under-19 premiership last season.
“A couple of champions of the club in Jacko Weatherald and Brayden Taglieri come back to the club and to get Marc O’Regan over from Balwyn as well. I’d be pretty confident we can keep all those guys as well as the guys we already had,” Macaffer said.
“We’ve got a lot of high-end talent that is getting a bit older, but our young guys – you look at contending and winning flags in the under-19s – those guys are going to be another year older.
“I think that’s a massive positive for us and with the experience we’ve got holds us in good stead.
“And hopefully we actually get coached by Robert Hyde as well, which is pretty exciting for the club.”