Today in many ways marks the official start of our 2016 campaign as our senior guys returned to training, which means the new-look coaching group and entire playing squad are now working together for the first time. And what better way to return to training than a 2km time trial in the heat!
After being appointed in early October, Don Pyke spent several weeks meeting coaches and players, locking in key staff and reviewing the 2015 season (and moving house from Perth to Adelaide). More recently, I know that he began to eagerly count down the days for the players’ annual leave to finish and the training to start. This week, with everyone on board, he commenced laying the strategic, fitness and technical foundations for the season ahead. I often speak about our fierce desire to have the best football program in the AFL and I am confident that we continue to make solid progress in building on the improvements made over the past 12 months. The coaches will put the players through a tremendously challenging pre-season but I know that the culture is strong and the desire to improve always front of mind.
It was also refreshing to welcome a number of new faces into the Crows family with Dean Gore, Curtly Hampton, Paul Seedsman and Troy Menzel joining us during the trade period, with Wayne Milera, Tom Doedee, Paul Hunter and Jono Beech coming on board via last week’s national and rookie drafts respectively. Hugh Greenwood and Alex Keath are also now officially Crows as Category B rookies. Together, their talent, drive and enthusiasm will make our Club better. Credit and congratulations must go to our list management and recruiting team who spent countless hours scouring the country for the best young talent and in the end executed a well thought through and at times complex strategy. I would also like to thank those supporters who popped along to the Adelaide Convention Centre on Tuesday night for the AFL National Draft – it was great to see plenty of familiar faces. The roar that went up when Pykey announced local product Wayne Milera was impressive!
The AFL industry never sleeps and it has been a jam-packed off season. I am happy to report that right across the Club we are making significant progress. I am excited by some of our planned community initiatives. We will soon announce a number of new corporate partners and I am again overwhelmed by the passion of the Crows supporter base who have been keeping the membership team very busy. I say it often and am sure to say it many more times in the future but your engagement and commitment is what makes our Club so special. By the end of this week, I expect over 40,000 of you to have already signed up for 2016. It is truly an outstanding achievement. Please accept my genuine and heartfelt thanks! The role you play in providing the lifeblood of support to the Club will never be underestimated.
The 2016 Fixture is an exciting one for the Club and our supporters. We play quality opposition in some great timeslots at Adelaide Oval and I am sure our supporters will continue to lead the way in terms of average attendances. You should be very proud of how this is recognised nationally. In Melbourne, we again have some great matches in prime timeslots, including three games at the MCG. Our new look and flexible Victorian membership option is already proving very popular. We do have a range of Memberships catering for all budgets and lifestyles so I encourage you to urge family, friends, work colleagues or any other Crows fan to join us on our journey this season.
Finally, our thoughts are with all those affected by the bushfires in the Mid-North and our thanks goes to the firefighters and volunteers who continue to work tirelessly to help and protect our community in the most difficult and challenging of circumstances. Like many other people and organisations, our Club wants to assist and we are working through some plans to play a part in helping people get back on their feet.
As always, thanks for your ongoing support and stay safe.
We Fly As One!
Cheers,
Fages
