BY its own admission, the Perth Football Club has not exactly set the highest of standards in recent times.
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Twenty-seven years have elapsed since the Magpies clinched a senior premiership and 100-point floggings have been an often occurrence for the NTFA division 2 club.
“When you are getting easily beaten every week it is hard to attract players and sponsors,” former president, and now vice-president, Joey Maloney said.
“Our last seniors flag was in 1990 during a golden era when they won premierships in 1984, 86, 87, 88, 89 and 1990. The last reserves premiership was in 1996, they also won in 1995 but lost in 1997.
“The seniors last played finals in 2011 when we finished on top of the ladder, but went bang, bang out the backdoor.
“After that we lost a heap of players and in 2012, 13 and 14 we never won a game and in the past two years we won three games each season.”
However, first-year president Scott Bellinger and other leaders have been on a mission to turn the club’s fortunes around.
Perth’s seniors have won five matches this season and are sitting in the finals race after what Bellinger said has been a shift in the club’s culture and discipline.
He said former Launceston coach and premiership player Brennan Savage has played an important role as a consultant, while the recruitment of players like ex-Rocherlea midfielder Shaun Etchell, former Launceston talent Brayden Pitcher, full forward Chris Collins and more has helped.
“It’s all about the club, team and individuals… [and] it breeds the right environment, the right culture and it attracts the right people to the club, which then has a flow-on effect with on-field results,” he said.
“We have between nine and 10 new players at the club and we have attracted the right players; and we’ve got people like Sav that are not only playing a coaching role, but are helping build that right environment.
“It’s probably the first time in Damian Rhind’s coaching career he has had the tools he needs to be successful.”
Bellinger said Perth has been perceived as a club that lacks “discipline and direction” and that he would like it to be revered as “a club that has gained the direction it needs to be successful on and off the field”.
“We accept that we have a demographic within our club that obviously needs a lot of work but it is just exciting to be on the move, to have a major sponsor on board, to get some wins under our belt and to see life members and older supporters… starting to come back to the club,” he said.
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
