The Manly-Warringah Wolves have made an impressive start to their debut season in Premier Division and will bring up another important milestone this weekend with their first match at their redeveloped home ground, Weldon Oval.
Club President, Russell Clack said the club has been ready for the rigours of Premier Division for a period of time after sustained success in the Division One competition which saw them claim successive premierships.
"We felt we were ready to take that next step to the higher level, both on and off the field," Clack said.
"We have been preparing for this chance for many years now, particularly working on the quality of our football department, volunteer network, facilities, sponsorship, and understanding our strategic relevance in the Sydney region."
"To now have the privilege to take that next step has left us excited and nervous at the same time. We were raring for the opportunity to get on the football field and mix it with the best footballers AFL Sydney has to offer."
Clack believes the club now has first-class facilities courtesy of a long-term project to improve the facilities at Weldon Oval.
"Our clubhouse has been fully renovated, recently opened, and is a class or two above where it started, and the change rooms are spacious and the facilities a professional quality," Clack enthused.
"The oval has been completely redone, ripped up and replaced. It has been a long time since the project started with the commencement going back five years, and it has been well worth the wait."
"There has been a number of dedicated people in the club we can thank for this achievement, as well as the backing from the AFL, Warringah Council, and contributions from local businesses Bendigo Bank and Ann Wilson Funerals."
Not much has changed over the off-season by way of preparations, according to Clack.
We have continued to work on our fitness, skills and structures, with the key for us being to lock away a quality coach like Leigh Brain," he said.
"He has been tremendous bringing the boys together as a unit during the preseason and also being active in seeking and securing quality new players to provide that balance in the team we need for Premier Division."
After a series of trial matches against Premier Division outfits, even Clack was pleasantly surprised with the Wolves’ performance in the opening round where they defeated last year’s Grand Finalists, Balmain by 117 points.
"It certainly exceeded our expectations," he admitted.
"We are under no illusions about where we are at as a club and we need to work hard to be competitive week in week out, and to give it the best we can," he said.
"We are not sure how we will go this season, we are new to this level of football - we just hope we are consistently competitive, and win at least as many games as the last club (UTS) to first enter the Premier Division did."
Last Modified on 17/04/2013 11:09
