CHARLES Mutton Reserve was a much more cheerful place in 2017.
The Northern Saints had suffered a dramatic fall from grace, plunging from Premier Division down to Division 2 off the back of just one win in two seasons.
The double-relegation was a result of huge list turnover following the club’s historic 2013 Division 1 premiership.
But life in Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 has given the club some stability over the last 12 months and finally, the Saints were able to get back to their winning ways and play finals footy.
Now they have a new coach in Paul Dunn, who is keen to raise the bar across many areas for the football club.
“It’s been a lot of hard work involving a big culture shift in trying to bring in some more professionalism into the club and changing the attitude of the players,” Dunn told essendondfl.com.au.
“They’ve actually really bought into it with what we’re doing, our style of play and just what the requirements are. We’re trying to take their football to a new level.”
Dunn has introduced an increased training load and recovery program and is currently hopeful of having a healthy squad to choose from come Round 1 at home to Roxburgh Park.
Roughly half of the side's best 22 will have a new look about it this year with three 2013 premiership heroes choosing to come back to the Saints.
Forward Rocky Ferraro and midfielders Tamer Abdallah and Bilal Allouch are back wearing blue, green and red after spending time at various other clubs around the league in recent times.
Dunn was more than happy to welcome them back.
“So far they’ve had a fantastic impact,” Dunn said.
“All three have got really good leadership qualities and have played high levels of football and had some success.
“The way they handle themselves around the club and their attitude is really starting to rub off on the younger players and the kids we have coming through.”
Kieran Sheehan and Petar Pavlovic are the only two 2017 senior regulars not returning this year.
But while the net result of the club’s turnover looks to be a positive one, Dunn is not looking too far ahead from a win-loss perspective.
“Because what we’re doing is so new, we’re actually looking more at consolidation than anything at the moment,” he said.
“What we’re looking at is trying to get a good mix of experience and also getting games into the younger guys, because if we really want to build a good foundation to go forward, then that’s one of the big keys that we need.
“We need to get games, experience and education into the younger guys, because they’re the long-term future of the club.”
Key Ins: Tamer Abdallah (midfielder, Westmeadows), Bilal Allouch (midfielder, Westmeadows), Rocky Ferraro (forward, Hillside), Nathan Wilson (Forest Hill), Troy Clarke (Newport), Tristan Rycroft (Whitehorse Pioneers), Mahmoud Taleb (Hadfield), Sami Abdulrahim (Airport West) & Onur Akbas (Glenroy)
Keys Outs: Kieran Sheehan (Watsonia) & Petar Pavlovic (Braybrook)
First Month: Roxburgh Park (home), Hadfield (away), Moonee Valley (home) & East Sunbury (away)
