MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

DARCY COFFEY

What a start to the 2021 WAFL season. We have had some outstanding performances across all grades, and none greater this year than our Grand Final Rematch win over South Fremantle in round 2. The opening 6 rounds have seen 27 players represent the club at league level, with 26 of those coming from our local metropolitan and regional zones. The next best club for providing opportunities for their local players sits almost 30% behind at 68%. We have seen 6 players make their league debuts already in 2021 and with currently the youngest average age in both the League and Reserves across the competition, all indicators point to some sustained success for our mighty Tiges. 

In the League - Jye Bolton & Bailey Rogers have set the benchmark in our engine room, Dec Hardisty & Tom Baldwin have been almost impenetrable defensively and the emergence of Jack Buller and Isaac Barton in the forward half have provided just a few of the many highlights across the opening rounds. In our reserves Sam Alvarez , Alex Pearce & Ben Elliot have been standout performers, along with Max Minear up forward and Rylie Morgan, on a return from injury, who have both been elevated to the league team in the past few weeks.

Strong home crowds of over 5200 fans across our first 3 home games have shown wonderful support and we hope this to continue to build over the coming weeks. The bouncy castles and face painting have entertained the kids, Dollars Deck has kept many of the parents entertained and its wonderful to see former champions of the club in Anthony Jones and Daniel Bandy tell us their stories as special guests at our President Luncheons. Our club proudly sets the standard in WAFL matchday luncheons and if you have not been, or not been for a while, call Holly today to book in.

In our Colts, 29 young men will have debuted for the club after the first 6 rounds to provide the perfect platform to continue our senior player production line. Standouts have included Gus Sheldrick from CCGS, Max Mumme from Scotch (grandson of 1964 premiership skipper Les), Talon Delacey from North Albany and Jahmal Stretch from Halls Creek who is also just one of an incredible 15 indigenous players in the Colts Squad in 2021.

Our Futures program has just finished up and it’s not only exciting to see the quality of players coming through, but the coaching team assembled is exceptional. Big Thanks to Ash Clancy and his team for their huge commitment of time & energy across the program with standout playing performances coming from Daniel Curtin, Louis Tangney, Kai Dehavilland & Bailey Banfield from our metro zone; and Jett Sibosado (Broome) & Ryan Lazar (Albany) from our regional areas. Keep an eye out for these names in future.

Our WAFL-W League team are now over halfway through their season and are sitting comfortably in third place, with both our Reserves and Rogers cup girls sitting 4^th and 5^th respectively and hopefully both in the frame for finals in 2021 also. Rachel Ortlepp down back; Sasha Goranova & skipper Ella Smith across the middle; along with Amy Franklin and Tessa Doumanis up forward have all had a significant hand in the girls success this year to date and at a National level it was wonderful to see CFC alumni and 2021 AFL-W draftee Bella Lewis take out the West Coast Eagles Club Champion award in her debut season.

The mens teams had the state bye over the past weekend and fantastic to see our Tigers make up a quarter of the team. Congrats to Dec Mountford, Jye Bolton, Ben Edwards, Bailey Rogers, Lachie Martinis & Cal England on their call ups – and despite a disappointing loss – they can be very proud of themselves in representing their state. Wonderful to see Jye add yet another Simpson to his collection – now only one short of his own Springfield family.

I felt the positive energy at our season launch was palpable and I’m wrapped this has continued into our season proper. There will be bumps along the way (I’m looking at you Subi) and undoubtably be some significant challenges ahead of us but with the foundation we have all contributed to, our future is bright, and I can’t thank our members enough for this continued support. We return to Tigerland for round 8 for a near sold out ladies’ day event during the League game, don’t despair if you haven’t scored a ticket though, festivities will move to the Tiger Bar post game and everyone is welcome. If you can’t wait until then though, on Thursday, and every Thursday, Tiger Bar is open to the public and serving cracking meals. Multiple teams are training and there’s almost always AFL footy on the TV. Thanks again for your support and I look forward to seeing you at the club soon.