VAFA club Parkdale Vultures battles exodus of players ahead of 2021 season
Senior coach Owen Lalor says the proud club will fight on, even if it has to stay in the Premier B section of the amateurs.
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The Parkdale Vultures are down, but they’re not out, a defiant senior coach Owen Lalor says.
The VAFA Premier B club is battling a shortage of players and has asked the amateurs to be placed in Premier C this year.
Lalor thinks it’s unlikely to happen and he expects the Vultures to remain in the second tier.
They’ve lost about 40 players since the end of 2019, when the senior team finished eighth on the ladder with five wins and 13 losses.
It was the experienced Lalor’s first season at the Parkdale club.
Lalor said he believed it would be in the best of interests of the Vultures to drop to Premier C and “start again’’.
“I have no doubt we need to go backwards to go forward, to really rebuild it again from the bottom up,’’ he said.
The Vultures are sending out an “SOS’’ to former and retired players to help with numbers and fill two senior sides this year.
They’re also appealing for players for the Under 19s.
Parkdale Vultures have been in Premier B since playing Hampton Rovers in the 2014 Premier C grand final.
In the five seasons since they’ve finished no higher than sixth (2018).
“Before Christmas we had three training sessions and I was very no, no, no, I’m quite happy to take a young group and play them at the highest level possible,’’ Lalor said.
“I’ve been through ups and downs at all the clubs I’ve been at.
“Probably the last session before Christmas, we were really starting to get a feel for what was starting to happen at the club.
“Then with a meeting with the president we sat around the table and said no, we’re happy to ride this out in B grade. But after Christmas, things started opening up more, the floodgates started to open up a bit more, and we really had to sit down and have a really strong, open chat about it all. And the consensus was – and I’m 100 per cent that it has to happen, but I don’t think it will – that we need to go to C grade.
“I know there’s no proof but if we’d played a 2020 season I’m pretty confident we would have ended up in C grade. That was based on us heading into the year with the youngest side ever in B grade for Parkdale. I’m pretty sure we would have been right in the relegation zone.’’
Lalor added: “COVID has really hurt us big time. Some clubs it’s helped, some it’s hurt. What it’s meant for us is six years in B grade, finished in the bottom four every year, we’re a suburban club, and the longevity of being in B grade and not winning many games has now taken its toll on a lot of the players, especially the guys who have been there for five, six years.
“You could see it coming at the end of 2019, because we threw everything into that year and were competitive for so much of it but they’d been through it for five or six years already.
“With COVID, people have reassessed everything, what they want out of life, football, work, and unfortunately we’ve taken a hit from that.’’
Lalor said some of the older players had retired, some younger players had decided to stop playing and others had gone elsewhere in search of success.
“They’re wanting to be competitive and have fun,’’ he said.
“There’s a group going to D grade footy at Prahran, there are guys going to play with mates at other clubs, there are guys just having a year off, there’s a group going to Cairns for the year to play footy (Tom Jenkins, Jarrod Peake, Connor Larkin and Zac Straker) and two of them were our vice-captains in 2019 and three of them finished in our top seven in the best and fairest.
“There are guys going to Skye, to Mordialloc, to Cheltenham, to Dingley, to Noble Park … they’re all over the place. They’re playing mates, they’re playing for a bit of money and they’re playing with clubs that are going to win a few more games than us.’’
Lalor said a few of the players had indicated they would stay at Parkdale Vultures if the club was placed in Premier C.
The coach has been giving VAFA officials a weekly update of the playing list.
He said player numbers “weren’t great’’ and the club needed a short-term strategy to get through 2021.
Lalor said he was up for the challenge of coaching the team.
“If we have to play in B grade, we’ll play, and we’ll have fun and try to be competitive,’’ he said.
“I’m going to ride it out these with these guys. The guys rocking up to training are ripping guys and we’re going to fight our way through it.
“There are two options: you fight it out and improve or you quit.’’
It’s believed no Premier C club is keen to make the move to Premier B.
Lalor said the Vultures were doing everything they could to keep their Under 19 team. Sean Allcock has been appointed coach.
Training is at Gerry Green Reserve on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The VAFA has been approached for comment.
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