WRFL: How Caroline Springs is closing the gap in Division 1
Caroline Springs president Terry Azzopardi details why his club is enthused by its progress in the top-flight of the Western Region Football League and gives an update on coach Brodie Holland’s future.
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Caroline Springs was eyeing a top-five finish in the Western Region Football League’s top flight in 2020.
While Deer Park, Spotswood, Werribee Districts, Hoppers Crossing, Altona and St Albans have extended their campaigns into September in recent years, the Lakers were looking to defy the norm.
They had been building with purpose since their 2016 Division 2 flag, claiming two wins in 2017, four in 2018 and six in 2019.
But despite the season being called off amid the coronavirus pandemic, the optimism has anything but faded.
“We’re pretty lucky that we’ve got a lot of young kids coming through. It’s exciting for us and the older guys can see what’s coming through,” Caroline Springs president Terry Azzopardi said.
“It would have been nice this year to keep building towards some success, but obviously we’ll just have to pause that for a little while and build towards next year now.
“If we played one, maybe two (finals), that would have given us a bit of experience and help us towards 2021.
“Touch-wood, we haven’t gone backwards since we’ve been in Division 1. We’ve improved every year.
“The aim was always to take that extra couple of steps and if you win another two, three games, you can potentially play finals footy.
“Hopefully we can attack next year with a bit of confidence and be ready to go.”
Azzopardi said “all indications” were that coach Brodie Holland would continue in the top job.
The former Collingwood and Fremantle star took over in 2018 and is enthusiastic about the potential of his young list.
“He’s pretty excited with that we’re building over the last two or three years,” Azzopardi said.
“In the next two or three years, hopefully we can bear the fruits of that.”
The likes of Cody Raak, Steve Kyriazis, Zen Christofi, Tyler Gysberts, Jesse Cavanagh and Tate Wood headline the next generation of talent.
A wretched run with injury in past campaigns has meant the Lakers have had no option but to pump games into their youngsters.
“We’ve probably given them more games than they would have got otherwise,” Azzopardi said.
“There’s no doubt there’s a good core group of kids. We’ve got 11 out of 50 in the (Western) Jets squad this year. It’s unheard of to have that sort of portion of Jets from one club.
“Those kids have given us a bit of depth coming into this year and next year.
“We’ve been conscious of not just going out and recruiting anyone and everybody. It’s been a targeted approach, especially with these kids coming through, just to complement them.”
Caroline Springs have worked hard to boost their senior core in a bid to compete with the elite.
The experienced Stephen Brewer made the move from Greenvale last year and collected the club’s best-and-fairest award.
Last off-season also delivered the signings of former Adelaide player Will Young, Thomas Brownbridge, Brady Allen, Jakob De Winter and Jy Lambley.
Azzopardi said the Lakers needed “one or two” recruits, pointing to a big-bodied inside midfielder and ruckman.
“We don’t think we’re that far away from being competitive,” he said.
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