SFNL: Springvale Districts coach Kris Thompson outlines how his side bounces back in 2024
Springvale Districts’ quest for improvement won’t stop after its maiden Division 1 finals berth with the Dees hungry for more. Coach Kris Thompson outlines how they need to improve.
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While content he got the best out the list at his disposal this season, Springvale Districts coach Kris Thompson is gazing towards a bigger and better 2024.
Improvement has been on Districts’ radar for the past five years and it remains a pivotal focus moving forward.
After being relegated in 2017, Springvale Districts has shown improvement in each season.
Premiers in 2018, runners-up in 2019, undefeated in 2021 and finalists in their second season of Division 1 football in 2023.
The Dees have had their taste of finals footy and — particularly with how they bowed out — are hungry for more.
“We want to win a premiership, if you’re a team that plays finals and your goal the following year isn’t to win the premiership, well, I don’t know what it is,” Thompson said.
“Every year we have finished higher on the ladder, five years in a row, so why shouldn’t that be happening next year.
“Our player retention is always super, we will go forward with a similar squad and are looking to bring in some top end recruits as well.”
If Springvale Districts is to improve, it will need to either bolster its list or improve internally.
The latter could be a challenge as they got the best out of their list this year, according to Thompson.
“We got absolutely everything, and squeezed a little bit more, out of that list this year,” he said.
“We played basically the whole second half without Peter Heng, Matt Wetering, who is a bnf winner and leading goal kicker, Dylan Quirk, a bnf winner at Narre Warren, and Matt Thompson, who is a bnf winner at Springvale.
“The challenge is to take another step forward but we squeezed absolutely everything, and some, out of our list.
“It’s doing that again as individuals and bringing in some top end recruits – that’s what we’ve got to do.”
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