THE FALCON SPIRIT WILL BE A FEATURE OF 2010

By Darrell Kent

The 2010 football season is very nearly upon us. As usual, members and supporters have been following the developments in all WAFL Clubs with a great degree of interest as the comings and goings of players is monitored, rule changes are put into place and developments affecting the WAFL competition are reported on. All of these points help football followers to look forward to how the 2010 season will evolve.

The last two seasons have seen West Perth finish in the top four but not progress to the Grand Final. For a number of years, the player group at West Perth has been a very tight knit group who have given their members and supporters great value with competitive efforts. Supporters have experienced all of the highs and lows that a football Club can offer, but there has never been any doubt about how hard the players try for their jumper. This is a credit to the playing group, coaching staff, admin staff and Board who have worked tirelessly to ensure that West Perth remain competitive and provide fans with value for money.

 Senior Coach, Bill Monaghan, has a lot of faith in the player group that he has and is confident that they can build on his first year as the coach of the Falcons. This is the first year that he has had a full pre-season with the players and this will undoubtedly result in a natural improvement in the player group. West Perth are lucky to have a coach of Bill Monaghan’s calibre, as all of the indications are that he has the strategies and planning necessary to take the playing group to the next level.

The West Perth Football Club is backing the player group and with a talented collection of players such as the Bewicks, Lewis Harvey, Caleb Shadbolt, Matt Tedesco, Brodie Duffield, Brayden Duckworth, Frank Stockley, Aaron Black and Seb Dearle in the 19-23 age group, there is much to look forward to. It has been suggested that West Perth has the most talented group of players in this age group in the competition. Add to this Jack Darling, the possible number one AFL draft pick this year, the graduating Colts from 2009 and there is a talented group of young players to carry the Club forward.

Last year a number if West Perth’s senior players had interrupted pre-seasons or missed a number of games. These included key midfielder, Josh Pearce, who didn’t play after round three, Jay Van Berlo and Dustin Burns who both played less than half of the season, as well as Clayton Lasscock and Dan Hunt, whose pre-season didn’t go as planned. The upside for this current player group is tremendous and gives Falcons supporters plenty to look forward to for 2010.

The coaching staff has been bolstered by the return of former players Brett Cousins, Peter Julian and the recently retired Craig Smoker and Rob Hunt, and their experience and love of West Perth is only going to add to the expertise of Bill Monaghan.

You can be sure that the West Perth “Grand Old Flag” tradition will continue for 2010 so please support the efforts of all at the Club by renewing your membership as the Falcons strive for further success this year.

Promising players Frank Stockley (left), Sebastian Dearle (centre) and Lewis Harvey (right)