ONE step at a time.
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Orange Hawks’ newly elected president Mark Johnson says his goal is to get the two blues back on top of Group 10, but he’s under no illusions of the magnitude of the task at hand.
The club released a mammoth 50 players at the end of the 2015 season, which in part led to last season’s tough, eighth place finish in premier league.
The club finished with the wooden spoon in first division, while Hawks didn’t field a side in the under 18s competition – a tough pill to swallow given the two blues featured in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 junior grand finals, winning the latter two.
“We were in free fall there this year,” Johnson said, not beating around the bush.
“We went from a period three years ago where we hosted the grand final (in 2013), to being beaten 88-0 in the local derby this year.
“In saying all that, Frank (Sheehan) and Stumpy (Darrel Rosser) did a wonderful job last year with the limited help they had. They shouldered a lot of the work.”
That’s not something Johnson is prepared to do.
And if the early indications are anything to go by, he won’t have to.
Jacky Lyden is the new vice president, while junior vice president is Casey Byrne. Andrew Blimka has filled the secretary role and Gavin Pilossof is the new treasurer.
Michael Plummer is set to fill a new role, that of education, employment and training official, designed to help the club’s young players find employment within the community.
The new executive committee was voted in at Sunday’s annual general meeting, with close to 40 people attending, a show of support Johnson is rapt with.
He said lower grade coaches will be announced in the coming weeks while securing a captain-coach for premier league was top of the new board’s agenda.
As is rebuilding the club’s under 18s stock, which next season is set to be flooded with players from Bloomfield’s under 16s grand final outfit.
Johnson was confident the club would field four grades in 2017, with the club’s league tag outfit a shining light in 2016 having progressed through to the semi-finals.
“We didn’t really have any feel at the club,” Johnson said, looking back at 2016 with no under 18s appearing on game day.
That’s not easy, but we’ve got to look at being more professional.
- Hawks president Mark Johnson
“Those young guys are so important to a club. They can really drive it, and for the first time in our history we didn’t have that side.
“We want a strong 18s this coming year.”
Johnson said the club has completed a number of signings to help balance the promising youth already in Hawks’ ranks.
He said the end game was modelling the club on the game’s top level.
“The goal is to try and adapt a similar model to the one a NRL club will use. That’s not easy, but we’ve got to look at being more professional,” he said.
A Bloomfield junior who played grade football at the Hawks club as late as 2000, Johnson said he was keen to boost his junior club.
“I’m just a fella who went to the football and could see the club needed a change, and I thought I could lend some support in a few areas,” he said.