By Nick Creely
When Hallam defeated a star-studded Bentleigh to take out the inaugural Seymour Law Cup in the pre-season competition this year, there was an ominous feel to the Hawks.
After finishing fifth in the Southern Football League Division Three competition in 2016 – and bowing out to the Doveton Eagles in a final – the expectation was that Hallam could be around the mark once again.
But coming into the pointy end of the 2017 season, Hallam are the premiership favourites, a tag that the club will relish as finals approach – but not let them become complacent.
“After we won the pre-season final against a Division 1 side, we automatically become the hunted this year – even though we finished fourth or fifth last year, we earnt that right after winning the pre-season comp,” Hawks coach Scott Slater said.
“And then when we beat Doveton Eagles for the first time this year, people started saying we were the real deal, and we welcome that.
“But we haven’t actually won a flag yet, we need to stay focused – we haven’t achieved anything but sit on top of the ladder.”
Slater said that the turnaround of his club’s on-field fortunes has come down to a clear plan focusing on little goals based around development of kids and lifting the standards of the whole club.
“It is really pleasing – had a three year plan put in place, we wanted to be competitive last year, make finals this year and have a crack at a flag next year, but we’re already 12 months ahead of that,” he said.
“When we looked at the draw, we sort of pencilled in some early wins against sides we hadn’t beaten before – we set little goals along the way and achieved that.
“We have tried to break the season down to six-week blocks – last year we won our first six games and everything looked on track – but when you get hit with a loss it’s hard to keep it on track.
“We’ve been big on pushing through the kids in games where it is safe to do so – we’re mindful on the kids’ development, we’re aware and mindful we need to get games into these kids to mould them into full time senior players in a year or two.
“The club train together, we don’t exclude as such, but our whole club is one- we’re big on educating our kids and enforcing a club game plan.
“We understand there is a long way to go this year – I’m happy to sit where we are at the moment, but we have to stay focused.”
Heading into a potentially epic finals series, with rivals Doveton Eagles, Ashwood, Endeavour Hills and South Yarra all breathing down their necks, Slater conceded that despite taking things one week at a time, looking ahead won’t hurt them.
“Player management is the key for us – if we get an opportunity to rest up a few older bodies or heal some niggling injuries we’ll do that – fresh legs in finals series do help,” he explained.
“But we need to focus on the next week, strive for the positive result, and the rest will take care of itself.”
