Seniors Football Department Update

by Warren Parker, EPFC Football Manager

The Senior Preseason officially started on Wednesday 30th November with players returning to complete 2km Time Trials, Sprint Tests, Strength Tests as well as General Skills and Conditioning.

The schedule has seen training on Monday and Wednesday evenings at Leederville Oval along with Saturday morning conditioning sessions which have been completed away from the Club. Venues have included some of Perth’s iconic preseason training landmarks including Broadwalk Vista at Kings Park and Bold Park in Floreat.

Saturday 10th December saw the entire club come together (Seniors, Colts and WAFLW) to complete a running session in the hills at Bold Park, which was a great chance for the players and across Talent, Seniors and Female to meet and bond in a football environment as we continue to build the One Club mentality and grow the connection between our newly established WAFLW Senior Squad.

Apart from a few solitary cases of Covid and several players recovering from off-season surgery or injuries, the preseason has been very positive. Some of our higher profile players that have had modified preseasons include Bradley Fulllgrabe (Foot), Thomas Edwards-Balwdin (Shoulder), Kye Willcocks (Shoulder), Angus Schumacher (Knee) and Jacob Msando (Groin), but all of these players are tracking well to return to full preseason training in the new year.

Harrison Macreadie has been training really strongly with the group since coming over from Melbourne and although adjusting to the heat, we expect him to continue setting the tone. Mitchell Crowden has joined the group after recently returning from a planned end of season get-away and will look to get fully up to speed in the new year.

Nicholas Robertson, Corey Watts, Angus Scott, Christian Ameduri, Scott Jones and Stan Wright have all returned to the Club in great condition and are setting the tone from a Senior point of view. Youngsters like Sam Van Diemen, Mitchell Schofield, Adam Boules, Sandon Page and Patrick Reilly look hungry to impress on the track and consolidate themselves at WAFL League Footballers in 2023 while the Graduating Colts have also hit the ground running.

Joining Harrison Macreadie (Key Def) and Mitchell Crowden (Mid) as recruits for the 2023 Season in recent weeks are Alex Pearce (Mid/Def) and Liam Tedesco (Mid/Fwd), with an exciting Victorian Recruit to be announced in the New Year that I’m confident will really excite the supporter base.

Alex Pearce (21), originally from North Albany in the GSFL comes to East Perth from Claremont where he’s played 8 WAFL League games over the last 2 seasons. The talented youngster will add to our midfield stocks where he is well suited to outside run and carry roles and has experience as a shut-down and rebounding defender. He’s a good ball user, and is a hard working high level character that we’re looking forward to seeing grow with the group over the coming years.

Liam Tedesco (25) transfers over from West Perth where he played 20 WAFL League Matches between 2018-2021. His last match at WAFL level was back in Round 8 2021 and he spent the 2022 season at Wanneroo in the PFL where he was part of the B-Grade Premiership side. Liam still has plenty to prove at WAFL level and brings a mature strong body to our midfield group where he loves to influence the game with pressure and tackling. His ability to break away from stoppage with speed is very good and he has the game sense to play as a forward. Again, we look forward to seeing Liam build his connection and confidence with the group over the preseason as he aims to line up with the League side in 2023.

The Club will continue to work with a number of potential recruits over the coming months with the aim of adding talented players in specific roles across the ground who are good characters, and will have a positive influence on the culture at the Club. We have great confidence in our developing young core which will continue to improve and our senior players are all starting to get up to and over the 50 WAFL game milestone.

Since our last update, we’ve also seen a number of players with League experience that have chosen to take on opportunities at other clubs. Ben McGuire has made the move to East Fremantle, while Harley Sparks and Cooper Sparks have moved to Perth and we wish each of these players all the best in their endeavours to establish themselves in a new environment.

We’ve also seen a number of talented youngsters with bright futures Drafted to the AFL, which is a great outcome for the Club and positive illustration of the hard work going into our Talent Pathway both Regionally and in the Metro area. Rebuen Ginbey (WCE), Jedd Busslinger (Western Bulldogs) and Jordyn Baker (WCE) were all selected in the AFL Draft and Rookie Drafts last month and we wish them all the best on their journey at their respective clubs. We’ll all be cheering them on from a far and hoping that they can achieve every success at AFL Level.

The squad will break for Christmas with our last session being at the Club on Wednesday 21^st December. We’ll welcome players and coaches back on Saturday 14^th January and look to focus heavily on getting all of the physical, technical, tactical and mental areas covered as we prepare to start the season strongly in early April 2023.

The Football Department would like to thank all members, supporters and sponsors for your unconditional support of our cCub and of the players. It’s been a tough few years from a ladder position point of view, but internally we’re very confident that the foundation has been set and the right pieces are being added to get us right back up into contention for our 18^th WAFL League Premiership.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we’ll see you all in 2023! Go Royals.