New Heatherhill coach Lachlan Avery is aiming to bring the fun back to footy

First-time coach Lachlan Avery has promised his Heatherhill players will still be able to get the best out of work and their weekends while playing for the Hills.

Newly appointed Heatherhill coach Lachlan Avery is hoping to bring fun back to footy.

The inaugural side out of Bruce Park will compete in the Southern Thirds competition this year with the ambition to have fun on the field without disrupting life off it.

The Hills expect to play every home game on a Friday night and will – at this stage – train just once a week.

“We just want to get as many people back playing footy as possible,” the first-time coach said.

“Guys have struggled either not playing footy since Covid, have to work Saturday’s now because they need to financially or just don’t have the time to play footy like they used to.

“We just want to get as many of those type of blokes back on the park and enjoying the game.

“We want to be a club that differentiates itself from the high-level footy clubs around the south east and take more of a laid-back approach to playing footy.

“At the moment we are planning on training once a week throughout the pre-season and we will see what sort of numbers we get from there.

“We should hopefully be playing all Friday night home games and hopefully some other clubs play Friday nights too.”

New coach Lachlan Avery with president Zac White.

While the Hills will play out of the same venue as Frankston Rovers Junior Football Club, the Rovers will remain the feeder to Mornington Peninsula Division 1 side Frankston Bombers.

And as it stands, Heatherhill has gained interest from a squad of players who have come from up to 15 different clubs and a majority have not played footy in the last five years.

Avery is confident that the emergence of a group that broad has come as a result of the casual approach to footy that other competitions can’t offer.

“I think senior footy is just a massive time commitment,” he said.

“You have to dedicate two or three hours on a Tuesday, Thursday and you can end up devoting your entire Saturday as well.

“Time commitment is a massive one for us, we know that some people can’t afford to not work Saturday’s now, or they would rather spend weekends with their families.

“Hopefully Friday nights and early Saturday morning helps that, a lot of guys might have to adjust work on a Friday arvo, but it’s just a much more casual approach to footy.”