Eastern league: Fairpark survives relegation from Division 3

The Lions have survived relegation from Division 3, and coach Sean Stanton explains how his club plans to attack its next shot.

Fairpark coach Sean Stanton says the club “desperately” wanted to stay in Division 3. Picture: Craig Dooley

Fairpark senior coach Sean Stanton says his club will aim to recruit heavily ahead of next season after a welcomed relegation reprieve from the league.

The Eastern league has confirmed that promotion and relegation would not automatically apply across all five divisions following the shortened 2021 season.

Fairpark finished last in Division 3 with a 1-10 record, after being promoted from Division 4 in 2019 when it won the flag. This season marked the club’s first in Division 3 since 1996.

Fairpank celebrates its first flag since 1995, in 2019. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Despite recent uncertainty around which division the club would compete in next year, Stanton said most of the list had re-signed in a major boost for the club.

“It’s just exciting for what 2022 will bring – we were hoping that the cards would fall our way and we’d be in Division 3,” Stanton said.

“The club desperately wanted to be in Division 3 … we didn’t achieve what we had set out to achieve (this season), and that was ideally to play finals.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve probably had 95 per cent of our list recommit to next year, even with the uncertainty around whether we’d be in Division 3.”

Attention now turns to recruiting, where Stanton said a playing-assistant coach would be on the radar along with key forwards.

The club lost significant firepower in attack ahead of the 2021 season, with premiership names James Gough and Alex Mullucks departing, while goal-sneak Ronnie McKendry missed much of the campaign through injury.

Fellow premiership names Michael Keem and James Topp also moved on, while Josh Temple and Mitch Neid were among a host of names sidelined.

Stanton, who has recommitted for a sixth season at the helm, said a playing-assistant would bring “fresh ideas”.

“I’m grateful I’ve got another year but we’re trying to get a playing-assistant in with some fresh ideas. I’m hoping we can get four or five players and that’ll hold us in a good place for next year,” he said.

Stanton is optimistic a refreshed list could bounce back in Division 3 next year.

The club played in excess of 40 players in the senior ranks this season through necessity, but it blooded a wealth of emerging names.

Division 4 2019 under-19 league best and fairest Mason Byrne played every game, while under-19 captain Cody Morrison was also among a line of young guns to make a mark.

“We really only got blown out of the park on two or three occasions, I know the scoreboard probably didn’t reflect it, but it was probably just patches of footy that really hurt us, like a bad quarter here or there,” Stanton said.

“If you didn’t come to play for a quarter (in Division 3) that was generally the difference between winning or losing. When we got really challenged, being such a young group and having a lot of our experienced players unavailable, we fell away.”