Hampton Park’s failure to leave SEFNL cost it Aaron Edwards, says outgoing coach Matt Shorey
HAMPTON PARK wanted out of the SEFNL, but was told it must stay.
Sections of the club were keen on a move to the Southern Football League but it missed the AFL Victoria deadline on October 15.
Adding to the Redbacks’ woes, senior coach Matt Shorey stood down on Tuesday after one year at the helm, after being at odds with the club’s future direction and frustrated by its inability to land key recruits.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Would Hampton Park be better off out of the SEFNL? Tell us below.
Shorey revealed the club had targeted former AFL forward Aaron Edwards and star Balwyn big man Rennie Watts and said a move to Southern would be imperative for the club’s future existence.
“(Moving out of the SEFNL) isn’t a cop out or an easy way to win games,” Shorey said.
“It’s the only way they can build the culture and improve the confidence of this club.
“This club needs some kind of hope and the culture needs to improve … that won’t happen in the SEFNL.”
In the past two seasons under the SEFNL, Hampton Park has won two out of 36 games, playing a winless home-and-away season this year.
Shorey, a former seven-year-captain of the Redbacks, said the club had spoken to some big names towards the end of and after the season, but they were not really interested in joining the club.
“We approached Aaron Edwards, a former AFL footballer and a bloke who played his junior footy at Hampton Park,” Shorey said.
“(Edwards) always said he wanted to finish his career where he started but after some consideration he declined the offer, even after we offered him an extremely good deal.
“He knew we were a long way from winning games and didn’t want to take on the risk.”
Shorey indicated that more than 60 players were contacted by club recruiters, but only 15 showed interest.
“We signed Brett O’Hanlon in August but he decided to walk away after looking at the club’s poor form.
“In another instance, our recruiter drove all the way from Stony Creek to South Melbourne to sign Rennie Watts from Balwyn but (Watts) pulled out half and hour before the meeting. I was absolutely gutted.
“We were offering blokes at least double if not triple what they were getting to come to Hampton Park but we just couldn’t get any marquee players, it was a disaster.”
Shorey, a 200-game veteran for the club, said leaving his post as coach was one of the toughest things he’d ever done.
Co-president and club stalwart Mick O’Brien said the club’s push for divisional football over the past four years had fallen on deaf ears, ultimately affecting the club’s inability to recruit marquee players.
“Our brand and name is tarnished … we’ve offered many players enticing deals to get them to the club but we haven’t been able to sign any big names,” O’Brien said.
“It’s a good league with a good standard of footy but we’re paying the price for being at the bottom of the ladder for the past five years.”
O’Brien said the push to join the Southern Football League was initially player-driven.
“We brought it up at our AGM in general business, it was a fairly heated debate.”
“A lot of people wanted to stay in the competition and a lot of people wanted to leave,” he said.
“We were very close to having a special meeting to decide our club’s future … but we missed the AFL Victoria cut-off date to request a move.”
O’Brien said the club would prepare for a tough season ahead but was optimistic about the idea of divisional football across the South East in 2018.
“We’re looking forward to finding a competitive measure … we’ll just have to prepare for a tough season ahead.
“We’ll try and attack it from a development side and build the club through the ranks.
“We’re dependent on divisional football to help our club develop a competitive structure.”
Last night about 10 players and half a dozen club officials attended a meeting with AFL South East regional general manager Jeremy Bourke at Robert Booth Reserve.
The premise of the meeting was for Bourke to outline the future of the club to its members.
“The club asked me to come down and outline what the future of the SEFNL and Hampton Park looks like … we’re working hard to put in place a structure that can provide the right fit for the club,” Bourke said.
“There’s a degree of frustration within the group, they’ve been at the bottom of the tree for some time and they want to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Bourke said he encouraged league clubs and individuals across the competition to lend a helping hand.
“It’s important that everyone gets behind Hampton Park and supports the club.
“They won’t be a premiership contender next year, but the club needs to set achievable goals to help things turn around.”
Hampton Park are on the look out for new player recruitments.
For more information contact Mick O’Brien at hpfnc@outook.com.