EFNL 2024: New era, but expectations high under new Ferntree Gully coach Patty Garrity

A swag of star player exits hasn’t dampened the spirits at Ferntree Gully as the Eastern league Division 3 club gets to work under new coach Patty Garrity.

There’s set to be an investment in youth at Ferntree Gully following some star exits – but expectations remain high at the Eastern league Division 3 club under new coach Patty Garrity.

The incoming mentor was unveiled last month, succeeding Brent Kiker in the role after the coach of five years called time.

Garrity played more than 200 games across Boronia and The Basin, captaining both clubs, in a career which took in multiple best and fairest awards and Team of the Year gongs.

He arrives in his first senior gig fresh off a two-year stint as Rowville’s under-19 coach in Premier Division after overseeing the reserves at The Basin and a stint as senior assistant at Upper Gully.

Garrity said the foundation of emerging talent at Ferntree Gully piqued his interest in the role.

“There’s obviously a really solid base to work with already – quite a raw group but looking further down the track for juniors and their program, they’ve really built it up over the last couple of years,” Garrity said.

“Moving forward over the next five to six years when those guys start filtering through, it should be a really exciting prospect for the club.”

The Eagles finished the home-and-away season in eighth among a logjam of three teams on a 6-12 record vying for the fifth finals spot in the last round.

Garrity said the blooding of youth in 2024 would feed into his maiden campaign at the helm next year.

“Some older heads departed (ahead of this year) which opened up opportunities for younger guys to come through and play a bit of senior footy maybe a bit prematurely, but they’ve been exposed which is fantastic for the club,” he said.

“It’s only going to benefit us going forward.

“It’s a bit of a transition period, but we feel like we’re very young and exciting and we’ve got a lot to work with.”

Among the departing stars are reigning best and fairest Jordan Church and No. 1 ruckman Brayden Wright (Boronia), midfielder Ethan Kiker (Wantirna South) and captain Jack Flannery, who has joined Tooradin-Dalmore where he lives locally.

Ethan Kiker has joined Wantirna South. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“We lose some quality and experience from that list,” Garrity said.

“We see that as opportunity (and) it opens doors for other players to come in and express what they can do.

“We’ve obviously gone reasonably hard with our recruiting process and targeted certain areas that we think are going to benefit the club moving forward.”

South Belgrave trio Elliot Triegaardt, Zac Clarke and Josh Danopoulos have signed at the Eagles from the Division 1 club.

Triegaardt, a forward and ex-Gully junior, featured in a senior premiership at South Belgrave in 2022 as well as a reserves flag this year, while Clarke is a ruckman touted to have “a heap of upside”. Danopoulos, a wingman, played 16 reserve-grade matches this season.

“We’re targeting guys in a little bit younger age bracket than previous times would have done in these divisions – we’re looking for more sustained success than a flash in the pan,” Garrity said.

“These guys have been involved in good standards, good cultures and successful environments and we’re hoping they can bring down what they’ve learned to our level and hopefully our younger crew can feed off that.”

There’ll be further focus on bolstering the attacking half this off-season according to the coach as the club embarks on a new chapter.

“We have those holes to fill, but we feel like one door closes, another one opens, and we’re getting really good people in,” Garrity said.

“It’s a club that’s ingrained with a lot of history … we really just want to create our own chapter, maybe freshen it up a bit with the look of what we want to do and really aim high.”