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Sandringham Pre Season Update
Stefan Garrubba
The 2009 season is shaping up as a good one for the Sandringham Zebras. With last years players looking fitter and stronger, combined with the energetic youth and experienced recruits all is looking bright for the Zebras.
Stealth Development took the players on a 3 day camp to Wonga Park in February with the players receiving a glowing endorsement on their leadership skills, fitness and attitude to the tasks. The camp involved a lot of fitness and exercise but the players found out more about their strengths and weaknesses from a variety of tasks set down by Stealth Development.
Once back from the camp Andy Lovell and the rest of the coaching staff could see a marked improvement from the playing group in their fitness as well as their leadership skills.
Along with Stealth Development the senior players have utilised the services of 2 running coaches that has seen the players working on technique and stride patterns as well as endurance and pace. The running group has improved their results significantly over the pre season which should hopefully atone for a few of the narrow losses in 2008.
The boys that have joined the Zebras from the Sandringham Dragons in 2008 have settled in very well. After finding the rigors of VFL training initially hard they have all done what has been asked of them and more.
Here is a run down of the Dragons boys that have joined the Zebras in 2009:
Jarryd Allen – Hard and tough, very much in the Brad Gilder mould of footballers. Doesn’t mind getting in there and from the first Intra Club match knows how to find the ball.
Clay Johnston – Brother of Marc and Tomi (and of course Elli), Clay is very light but runs hard and has beautiful skills.
Stephen Muller – Good size footballer who the Zebras are looking to develop into a key defender. Trains hard and does not miss a beat.
Jarryd Robertson – played on Justin Koschitzke in the St Kilda intra club match and did not look out of place. Tall key position player who has all the goods for modern football.
Keiffer Smith-Cameron – Keiffer has lovely skills and is very polished in all that he does. Not afraid of going in and winning his own ball.
Matthew Stapleton – Matthew has thrived in the VFL environment from day 1. Willing to learn and was very solid in the St Kilda intra club match.
Dylan Elkman – Dylan came to the Zebras late after testing the waters at Port Melbourne but knew where his football future was. He is very quick and hardly wastes a disposal.
Some other recruits that supporters will look forward to watching in the Zebra stripes in 2009 are:
Simon Clarke – Originally from Geelong in the VFL, Simon has spent the past 2 years overseas but has always been keen to play football at the highest level. This running back-man will be a handy acquisition in 2009.
Stefan Garrubba – Stefan joins the Zebras after having 2 years on Sydney’s rookie list and then seasons at the Casey Scorpions. Looking to follow in the footsteps of many other Caulfield Grammarians to call Sandringham home, Stef will be a handy small forward in 2009.
Haelan Kay – Haelan came to the Zebras from Gippsland after training with St Kilda during their pre season. Unfortunately for Zebras fans Haelan injured his knee at training and will miss the entire 2009 season. Andy Lovell is very keen to keep him involved so let’s hope to see him back in 2010.
Ricky Ferraro – Ricky comes to Sandringham after leading the Dandenong Stingrays to a Grand Final in the TAC Cup in 2008. Has not put a foot wrong this pre-season so look for him to play senior football at every opportunity.
Brett Eddy – Brett hails from Foster and comes to the VFL with some handy wraps. Kicked multiple bags of goals in 2008, is beautifully balanced and kicks the balls as well as anyone. Also a very handy cricketer for South Melbourne.
Liam Tapper – Liam has never played a game of Australian Rules before coming from a Rugby Union background in NSW. Super fit, he has won all the time trials and his skills are improving with every session. Watch for opposition sides underestimating his tackling ability in 2009.
Kyall Walford – Kyall is the son of former Sandringham player, Bill Walford who played 71 games between 1969 and 1973. Kyall has moved to Melbourne from Gosford and he and his partner are currently expecting their first child.
We hope these players can develop into quality senior footballers for the Sandringham Football Club.
Andy Lovell has also made some new appointments to his coaching staff for this season.
Ex-TAC Cup coaching product Paul Stevens will oversee the reserves at Trevor Barker Beach Oval in 2009. Stevens was the Under-16s coach and also the development coach at the Dandenong Stingrays.
Andy has also appointed two new assistant coaches, with East Perth triple premiership pair Jeremy Barnard and Grant Holman joining Sandringham.
Barnard was East Perth’s captain and Holman was a tough, in-and-under on-baller for the Royals three premierships in a row from 2000-2001-2002.
More recently, the pair coached together at Strathmore Football Club.
These exiting new additions culminated with the continued development of the playing list should hopefully see success return to Trevor Barker Beach Oval in 2009.
