The Lions embarked on creating new initiatives during 2008. Firstly the creation of a new Auskick Centre at Glenmore Park on Sunday morning which was well received and attended. Work is in progress to expand the Auskick programme and give young kids in the local area an opportunity to play AFL on different days. The umpire programme was another initiative well received when it commenced at Dukes Oval with many attendees including fresh faces from the Lions who had been previously unable to attend centres in other areas.
The club fielded five competition teams in 2008 with the re-introduction of Under 11's football in the West. In the youth ages, Under 14's-Under 16's, the region played a combined Sydney West/Sydney South West Competition. The Greater Sydney Juniors added a Sydney West Talent Zone to the region with the introduction of the "Pioneers" team to commence playing in 2009. The Lions were also at the forefront of creating a pathway for their retiring junior players to move into senior footy with the local Penrith Rams Club with many of the 2007 Under 16's premiers showing their love of the game and their loyalty by continuing their careers, something that the region had failed to address in previous years.
The Lions were allocated Grand Final Day 2008 and all was in readiness for a great day at the picturesque Dukes Oval. Heavy storms in Sydney on the day before saw a quickly arranged "mobile" conference between the Lions Committee seeking alternatives such as postponements till the following week or venue changes. Other venues were inspected but at around 7:00 PM, Gipps Rd at Greystanes was confirmed and the massive task of re-organising the day went well into the night. All matches were played under appalling weather conditions but the Lions had pulled off a minor miracle. All the kids that played that day will surely remember the day for many years to come. The club cannot thank their volunteers enough for their efforts on the day with the help of the Goannas Club who provided the venue.
At the end of the season, The Lions hosted the annual "Swans Players" day at Dukes Oval with Club Champion, Jarrod McVeigh, Daniel Currie and Kristen Thornton delighting the 80 Auskickers that attended and telling them what it was like to be an AFL player at the highest level.
Scott Hogarth took over the Emu Plains Auskick Squad from Olli O'Keefe with almost thirty Saturday Morning participants. The wonderful thing was that three-quarters of the squad were new to the game of AFL and the dividends of an intensive recruitment campaign in that age group was paying dividends. Another 10 parents completed their Level 0 coaching course and a magnifcent winter saw the kids on the field every week. Scott Hogarth reveals the highlights of the Auskick Season:
"The season starting earlier, Auskickers playing up in Under 10's after their session, The Gala Days, St Clair coming over to Dukes Oval, playing at ANZ to a sold out crowd, the kids v parents game, the jelly beans and the fruit platters"
Club stalwarts, John and Kylie Rix, were also instrumental in creating a new Auskick Centre at Glenmore Park on Sunday Mornings. Lewis Whales was appointed coach whilst Lions Juniors, Jeremy Rix and Alex Wade were brilliant in helping out every week. Nine players commenced the late-starting season and a "bring a friend" day saw the team swell to twenty two players by the end of the season. Fifty Auskickers at the Lions two venues in 2008, easily a record year ! The new centre will again be in operation in 2009 for the true "Pioneers" of Glenmore Park.
The Under 10's team were expected to to have a "development" year under the guidance of "new" coach Zeaona McDonagh and assistant Mitch Perry with Dean Flynn as Manager. The starting squad of 17 players saw three 7 year old, Five 8's and nine 9's! The season started with one win from their first five matches but the skills and team spirit that the coaching staff had instilled in the "cubs" saw them win seven of their next eight matches with their only loss being against eventual premiers, Penrith Red, by just a goal. The team finished third in "home and away" series and accounted for Blue Mountains (Blue) in the elimination semi final before being gallant in defeat in the Preliminary Final against the previously undefeated Blue Mountains (White) team. With the Under 10's in 2009 being of a non-competitive nature (no finals series) it will be somewhat of a shame that these players wont be able to experience that "grand final" buzz...at least until 2010.
The Under 11's had an improving season and only fell at the last hurdle to miss finals football. The team was made up predominately of Under 10's players and the draw was not an ideal one for them, having to play Grand Finalists St Clair four times whilst playing the lesser ranked clubs only twice. Later in the season, they certainly lifted against the Crows with two excrutiating losses by two points or less. Paul Hocking did a sensational job with the team along with Manager Monique Holburn. They were also fortunate to have the services on most nights of coaching legend, Geoff Payne and star Lions Under 16, Matty Payne. Other parents (too many to name) also helped out on the many other duties required to field a team and without their support, it would have been a tough year. Obviously, with many of this side remaining in the same age division in 2009, they will be a team to be feared by all.
David Batson stepped up from Under 10's footy to coach the Under 12's in what was going to be a somewhat difficult year, with many players leapfrogging Under 10's to play in the age group. David was assisted by Tarsha Saint-Barry who acted in many roles, amongst them team manager and fitness instructor despite being on crutches for many weeks. With only four true Under 12's in the squad the team performed admirably, finishing fifth of the eight teams and ending off the season with a clinical mercy rule win over Rooty Hill Power. Congratulations to Morgan Pollock and Beau Dingemanns on making the Sydney West Under 12's Representaive Squad.
The Under 14's was always going to be the toughest age group at the Lions to coach and manage, boasting 27 players in the squad. With thirteen teams competing in the combined Sydney West/Sydney South West competition, the first game against St Clair turned out to be a forgettable experience when they suffered a big defeat after a couple of good trial wins. They managed to bounce back the following week with a ninety point win over Penrith. With club founder, David Nolan, having the Head Coaching role for the first time at the club, a professional approach was taken in managing the large squad and with the help of Geoff and Matt Payne as assistant coaches and Kim Nolan as Manager, a slick outfit ensued.The team made it to the finals series but in a very strong and large competition exited to the Ingleburn/South Campbelltown/Liverpool merged team in the semi.
Craig Sharp would have given his right arm to have the "numbers" problem of the Under 14's when he again took up the role of coach of the Under 16's. With a dozen players on the books, urgent talks were held with St Clair (who had about eight players) regarding a merger. At the last moment, the Crows decided against the merge and it was up to the "Dirty Dozen" Lions players to start a recruitment drive in order to play in the competition and they pulled of a coup with the quality of first time players they managed to recruit. At a team meeting with the players, Assistant Coaches Bob Miller and Geoff Payne and Manager Glen Stevens, Craig told the group that they had to be prepared to lose many games in the season and hopefully, win a couple. The first game saw them gain an easy win over St Clair by ninety points, but the acid test was the following week against the Razorbacks. However, the visitors left Dukes Oval with a massive 71 point loss against their name. The rest of the season saw the team dominate all games except the ones against Penrith, but the gap was narrowing. The Lions made the Grand Final in in one of the most thrilling Grand Finals in the history of Sydney West, led for much of the match before going down by just three points in horrific conditions, unable to get any of the 50/50 decisions on the day.
The Lions Under 16's have a very enviable statistic in the history Of Sydney West Football. Since the formation of the local competition, the 16's have contested and made every single finals series, which no other club has achieved. A tribute to the Lions endeavour to make football an enjoyable experience throughout their careers.
Three "retiring" players from the original Under 10's team of 2000 also played their final junior football in 2008. Below are some comments by their original coach in 2000, Andrew Lowing, on their profile:
Adam Sharp. A fast learner who has shown wonderful ball handling ability on both sides of his body. Adam sets up a lot of forward moves and always gives 100% at both training and on game day. A strong overhead mark.
Nicholas Edwards. A vey valuable player in our team who is always prepared to create opportunities and bring others into the game. A young player who has a lot of potential. A good kick and a very strong mark who has a lot of playing vision.
Matthew Payne. A great little player who is prepared to get the hard ball. Matthew has increased his knowledge of the game and his skill levels are quite good. He likes to feed the ball out to running players and strong, sharp handballs.
Retiring coach, committeeperson, janitor and allrounder, Craig Sharp, wrote in his final junior football review:
"Thanks to the committee, you have done a great job this year. As I slip into retirement and adopt a position on the hill, I'd like to thank a couple of people for their help and friendship over the years. Kim and David Nolan for starting the club and sucking me back into coaching. Geoff Payne and Greg Corless for the funny times and serious meetings. To all who served on the committee or volunteered over the years, thank you. It has been the first time at any club I have been associated with, that I think I can call everybody a friend"
Committee 2008 |
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President |
John Rix |
Vice President |
Jonathon Pollock |
Football Operations Manager |
Geoff Payne |
Treasurer |
Catherine Pollock |
Secretary |
David Batson |
Admin Manager/Registrar |
Kim Nolan |
Property Manager |
Carmen Haines |
Ground Manager |
Rod Thurley |
Committee |
Greg Corless |
Committee |
Craig Sharp |
Committee |
Monique Holburn |
Committee |
Raelene Matthews |
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Team Staff 2008 |
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Auskick Coach-Emu Plains |
Scott Hogarth |
Auskick Coach-Glenmore Park |
Lewis Whales |
Auskick Assistant |
Jeremy Rix |
Auskick Assistant |
Alex Wade |
Auskick Manager |
Kylie Rix |
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Under 10's Coach |
Zeaona McDonagh |
Under 10's Assistant Coach |
Mitch Perry |
Under 10's Manager |
Dean Flynn |
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Under 11's Coach |
Paul Hocking |
Under 11's Assistant Coach |
Garth Nolan |
Under 11's Manager |
Monique Holburn |
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Under 12's Coach |
David Batson |
Under 12's Manager/Conditioner |
Tarsha Saint-Barry |
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Under 14's Coach |
David Nolan |
Under 14's Assistant Coach |
Geoff Payne |
Under 14's Manager |
Kim Nolan |
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Under 16's Coach |
Craig Sharp |
Under 16's Assistant Coach |
Bob Miller |
Under 16's Manager |
Glen Stevens |
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Other Volunteers 2008 |
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The Pollock Family |
Canteen |
The Rix Family |
Canteen |
All the fabulous weekly volunteers |
Canteen |
Cheryl Payne |
Photography |
Matthew Payne |
Football Operations |
Adam Sharp |
Football Operations |
Shaun Stevens |
Football Operations |
Paul Devlin |
Football Operations |
Tim Wade |
Football Operations |
David Langer |
Football Operations |
Tom Kelly |
Football Operations |
Broderick Family |
Football Operations |
Pope Family |
Football Operations |
Leah Jeffreys |
Football Operations |
Dave Brown |
Football Operations |
Geoff Noble |
Football Operations |
Paul Fitzpatrick |
Football Operations |
Award Winners
Award |
Under 10 |
Under 11 |
Under 12 |
Under 14 |
Under 16 |
Best & Fairest
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Coen Brand
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Jack Morrison
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Beau Dingemans
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Patrick Pope
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Matthew Payne*
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Most Consistent
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Hayden Perry
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Jesse Grazotis
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Brayden Saint-Barry
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Martin Pope
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Adam Sharp
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Most Improved
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Lachlan White
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Murray Smith
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Stephen Webb
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David Looyschelder
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Hayden Strong
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Coach's Award
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Sam Wheeler
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Nicholas Hocking
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Morgan Pollock
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James Devlin
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Brayden Wilson
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Most Determined
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Matthew McAlpine
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Samuel Batson
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Mitchell Andrews
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Christopher Nolan
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Tom Evans
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Nolan Medal
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Shaun Stevens**
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Junior Clubman
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Mitchell Jeffries-Brown
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Senior Clubman
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Geoff Payne
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*Matthew Payne was also voted Best & Fairest (umpire votes) in the 2008 Sydney West/South West Under 16's Competition
**The Nolan Medal is only awarded in the Under 16's Grade.
Representative Players
Team |
Player |
Team |
Player |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 12's |
Beau Dingemans |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 14's |
Martin Pope |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 12's |
Morgan Pollock |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 16's |
Matthew Payne*** |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 13's |
Jeremy Rix |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 16's |
Nicholas Edwards |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 13's |
Blake Langer |
Western Sydney Pioneers Under 18's |
Dean Siljanoski |
GSJ -Sydney West Under 13's |
Christopher Nolan* |
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GSJ -Sydney West Under 13's |
Patrick Pope** |
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*Christopher Nolan was also selected in the Starz Under 13's and the Sydney West Academy of Sport in 2008
**Patrick Pope was also selected in the Starz Under 13's and the Sydney West Academy of Sport in 2008
***Matthew Payne was also selected in the 2009 Western Sydney Pioneers Under 18's
Milestones
Milestone |
Player |
Milestone |
Player |
Milestone |
Player |
200 Club Games |
Nicholas Edwards * |
50 Club Games |
Julian Borg |
50 Club Games |
Michael Kerr |
100 Club Games |
Kyle Brown |
50 Club Games |
Bryony Corless |
50 Club Games |
Morgan Pollock |
100 Club Games |
Gordon Howell |
50 Club Games |
Luke Fitzpatrick |
50 Club Games |
Patrick Pope |
100 Club Games |
Shaun Stevens |
50 Club Games |
Matthew Holburn |
50 Club Games |
John Spicer |
50 Club Games |
Joel Batson |
50 Club Games |
Jake Jeffreys-Brown |
50 Club Games |
Christopher Nolan |
50 Club Games |
Samuel Batson |
50 Club Games |
Mitch Jeffreys-Brown |
50 Club Games |
Jackson Swarbrick |
* Nicholas Edwards finished his junior football career with the Lions after nine seasons and a record 207 Club games.
Service Awards
Recipient |
Games |
Recipient |
Games |
Nicholas Edwards |
207 Club Games |
John Spicer |
68 Club Games |
Matthew Payne |
179 Club Games |
Luke Fitzpatrick |
63 Club Games |
Adam Sharp |
175 Club Games |
Michael Todd |
42 Club Games |
Kyle Brown |
110 Club Games |
Tom Evans |
18 Club Games |
Gordon Howell |
106 Club Games |
Kevin Geddes |
10 Club Games |
2008 Ladders
Under 10's
Under 11's
Under 12's
Under 14's
Under 16's
Last Modified on 16/01/2009 05:13