By Nick Creely
Embattled, but not broken – there is no better way to encapsulate the Sandown Cobras Football Club.
They have been battered and bruised throughout what has been a tough old 2017 season, losing by 100 points or more almost a dozen times already.
But believe it or not, the proud club is heading in the right direction on and off-field, with Chairman Zain Machfud one of many helping rebuild Edinburgh Reserve from the ground up, albeit slowly – and there first senior flag since 1997 may not be as far away as people think.
“The vibe around the club is fantastic actually – those heavy losses aren’t really a true test of our character – the results in the last few weeks – and the win against Dandenong – has really got the spirits up around the club – while we’ve had some tough moments on field, the boys are responding well and are really behind the club,” Machfud said.
“We’ve put in some processes off-field – we had a trivia night recently that had over 100 people which hasn’t been seen for a number of years – while there is plenty of work to be done, we are heading in the right direction and are united which is fantastic – we are laying the foundations this year for a real launch next year.
“The results early in the season were probably a reflection of learning a new game style – when you watch each match, we are getting better and better, but it needs to be in patches for longer.
“We’ve got a great core group of 20-25 players that are really driving the direction of the club – we did have some dramas earlier in the season getting a reserves side up and going but we did that, and that’s been great – we have about 60 guys on the books now which is positive.”
On 17 June – up against the Dandenong Redlegs – the Cobras had one of their most memorable days in years, winning by six-points in a nail biter, and also climbing off the bottom of the Division 3 ladder.
“It was a fantastic week for us – our netballers had a win, our reserves also won and then the seniors backed it up, it was such a relief – we also have an all-abilities team, and they’re undefeated so far, so it was brilliant – very exciting,” Machfud said.
Machfud, who has played 112 senior games for his club, believes the improvement is there to see, heaping praise on new senior coach Ange Sammaratino.
“We couldn’t be happier with Ange and all our coaches really, from Matt McMormick coaching the reserves, Phil Dickson as his assistant and Phil Foster as senior assistant – Ange has been fantastic in terms of motivation the boys, he has a great connection with the lads – while on field hasn’t been pretty at times in terms of the final result, the boys have taken on board what he is teaching them,” he said.
“We’re focusing on continuous improvement, there is no timeframe on it – that’s not from the players, it’s the coaches too because they’re not immune from learning too, and that goes all the way up to board level – our focus is just to get better in every area – the day we say we are 100 per cent happy we go backwards.
“It’s all about growth of the group – Ange is onboard next year and is all about little wins in games, playing better for longer in patches, and then those patches turn into quarters, and then that just flows on.”
And there are certainly talented players on the list who are destined to continue their development under Ange.
“Josh Hurford had an outstanding pre-season and really drove the group in training standards, and then there is players like our captain, Matt Dickson, who has been incredible for us – and a young ruckman, Kyle Timms, keeps getting better with every game he plays,” Machfud said.
“Our new recruits – Beau McLean and Shane Scandolera have had great years, and another would probably be Matt Bennie who has played full forward and a little bit at full back – he has really improved and taken onboard what Ange is trying to teach him.”
