Hi everyone,

It has been an exciting week for our Club and on Friday it gets even bigger with our 2023 supporter event and intra-club game.

The match is an important marker in our pre-season as it is the first full-scale practice game after a long summer on the training track and speaking to the players, they are keen to showcase the hard work they have been putting in. It will be great to have a competitive hit-out, albeit against ourselves, as our coaching and high performance team put the finishing touches to a well-rounded program that has had an emphasis on adding size and strength to our playing group. It should be a good night and there will be opportunities to meet the players and get autographs, and I urge you to get along to Hisense Stadium in Richmond.

The decision to announce Jordan Dawson as our ninth AFL captain has proven to be a popular one based on the feedback that has come my way and he takes the baton from Rory Sloane who has done an excellent job for the past four years. Jordan has been a standout from the minute he walked through the door more than a year ago. We identified he had leadership skills when we brought him home from Sydney and he has excelled in that space both on and off the field. As both Rory and Matthew Nicks have said in the media in recent days, Jordan is ready to shoulder the responsibility and we see him as the perfect person to lead us into the future.

I also want to acknowledge the terrific job Rory did in his four seasons as skipper through what have been some very challenging years. His selfless, team-first approach was a hallmark of his captaincy and I have no doubt he will continue to be a leader for our group as he returns from injury this season.

As the on-field transformation continues at our Club, I want to stress the importance of you making the most of the opportunity to vote in the Board election when the ballot opens on Thursday. We have four candidates vying for one vacancy on the Board with a two-year term on offer. It has been created by Rod Jameson choosing not to stand for re-election. Rod’s contribution, both as a player and administrator, spans three decades and we thank him for his loyalty and efforts, and he will be formally recognised in coming weeks.

Work is also continuing on our proposed new facility for the Thebarton Oval Precinct. As part of the wide-ranging community consultation, we have launched a dedicated website where you can find latest news and information, as well as provide feedback. I encourage you to take the time to have a look and fill out the survey that can be found here.

A key part of this consultation phase is the Master Plan Advisory Group – comprising representatives from our Club, City of West Torrens and local community – and it met for the second time this week. A range of topics were discussed including but not limited to traffic management, car parking and the retention of significant trees. We are determined to establish a world class training, administration and community hub which you can call home, and deliver positive outcomes for the local residents, groups and traders too.

Finally, next week our AFL team will travel to Perth for two practice games against Fremantle on February 24 and West Coast on March 3 which will be a great chance to measure ourselves against the opposition. Having watched plenty of training over the past couple of months, I can see there has been improvement and I am confident we will be challenging the best teams on a more consistent basis.

There is plenty to look forward to this year and it’s exciting to know the real games aren’t too far away.

See you on Friday.

Regards,

Tim