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By: Daniel Cencic
Twitter: @DC_EFL
A host of renowned names have joined the Glen Waverley Hawks as the club looks to climb back up the Division 4 ladder in 2018.
The Hawks finished sixth last season, with nine wins, eight losses and a draw.
A need for experience has seen former St.Kilda footballer Matt Ferguson join the club, in addition to former junior Tim Cook (Wantirna South), 2017 Knox premiership player Paul Tyler, and the return of Brad Riddle from Templestowe.
Ferguson played 12 games for St.Kilda from 2003 to 2008, and played in Sale City’s 2017 premiership side last year, booting 69 goals to finish equal-first in the North Gippsland competition goalkicking.
“We identified last year that we needed a few experienced guys that have played footy at a higher level just to help drive our standards as much as anything and the fact that all these guys are highly-credentialed players which is a bonus,” senior coach Ryan Flack said.
“As much as anything they’ve provided a bit of experience and set the training standards and given people a bit of excitement.
“It’s also created a bit of good, competitive pressure on spots.”
Key defender Jack Steinfort has returned from a year abroad, while Ryan Buttner will make his return after a knee reconstruction.
Meanwhile, new recruit Andrew Humphries could be a surprise packet this year according to Flack.
Humphries played 13 senior matches with Doveton in the Southern league last season.
“He’s a small livewire and pretty quick and has got pretty nice skills – we’re hoping he might be one of those ones that comes out of the blue,” Flack said.
Young guns Evan Pickering and Brandon Hodges have also been earmarked as big improvers.
“They’re really keen to cement themselves and have trained accordingly – they’re two to watch out for,” Flack said.
The Hawks have retained the majority of their list, in which Flack believes the club culture has played a major part.
“We’re not a club that can just go out, pick and choose who we want and get them in the way that some other clubs can,” he said.
“We have to be a place where people want to be and people can enjoy their footy.
“That’s been a real focus for us is player retention through having an environment where people are happy to be there and I think we’ve achieved that.
“We’ve got new social rooms and facilities this year which makes it a bit more pleasant for people to bring their families as well.
“There’s a few different factors about why we’re hoping to be a place that people want to be at.”
For Flack, the expectation for the season is to improve, with the Hawks building off some promising performances against top-ranked sides in 2017, including Round 7’s 17-point win over eventual premier, Donvale.
“The year before last, we had a pretty similar list with a little bit more depth (and) we had a few guys that either were injured or travelled last year,” Flack said.
“We played finals the year before and that’s where we set our sights last year, we just didn’t have enough depth in the right types of players once the injuries hit mid-year.
“We probably didn’t hold up as well at that point, we think we’re a side that can be in that bracket.
“We just want to make sure we improve on last year – Whitehorse played in a preliminary final and they beat us by less than 10 points both times, and we pushed all of the top sides at various times.
“If we can be a three or four goal better side, we’re probably going to pick up an extra four or five wins and that will put us in good shape.”
The Glen Waverley Hawks will open their season against the Whitehorse Pioneers at Springfield Park on Saturday, April 7.