Whittlesea uses year off to make key improvement for Division 1 return
NFL Division 2 premier Whittlesea isn’t wasting its year off, identifying a key area of improvement ahead of its return to the top flight and locking away a host of key players.
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Whittlesea will use its year off to muscle up ahead of a return to NFL Division 1 in 2021.
Eagles coach Blair Harvey said the club had identified strength as a key area if it is to thrive in the top flight and avoid yo-yoing back to Division 2.
If restrictions allow, Harvey hopes the club can hold in-house social matches in September-October before getting stuck into official pre-season training in late November.
Whittlesea claimed its fourth Division 2 premiership of the decade last season and is desperate to establish itself in Division 1.
“We’ve given all our younger boys and I suppose the players 10 to 30 on our list a weights program to build up a bit,” Harvey said.
“That’s one area we think we’re a bit light on going up to first division, so we’ve got to use this time to strengthen the boys up a bit.
“It’s going to be a different pre-season obviously … for us it’s about getting the boys back in a fun environment firstly.
“If restrictions let us, we’re looking have some in-house games on a Saturday. We’ll train one night a week and play an AFL 10s type thing.
“We’ll have a break and most likely come back late November, we might do two nights a week, and then in January get stuck in.”
Whittlesea claimed the Division 2 flag with a 27-point grand final win over Banyule, fielding a team with an average age of 22 and just 36 player points.
The Eagles have already signed the bulk of their playing list, led by captain Xavier Dimasi and leaders Matt Atta, Paul Higgins, Nathan Andrews and Jaron Murphy.
Harvey said the club was putting its faith in local players and hoped the group would stick together for long-term success.
“We’ve had unbelievable buy-in from the playing group, led by our leaders, to commit and take pay cuts,” Harvey said.
“It shows great support to stick by the club in tough times and not shop themselves around.
“I think we’ve got some real growth from within with what we’ve picked up.
“Our expectation is we won’t be knocking on the door of the grand final or a premiership our first year but if we can sneak in to play a final, finish fifth or sixth, we’ll be really happy.”
Former AFL recruit Bailey Rice is still in talks with the club.
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