NO more home-ground disadvantage. No more sub-standard clubrooms. The next 12 months look set to provide the springboard to transform the Emerald Football Club into a real YVMDFL powerhouse.
That’s the bold prediction by both outgoing club president Paul Reilly and the (young) man filling his shoes, 29-year-old Shane Pearton.
“We’re going to be a real monster,” Pearton said.
Reilly spoke to the Mail in June about the potentially bleak outlook facing the Bombers, saying at the time that he was “embarrassed” by Emerald’s own facilities, which he said had the potential to force the closure of the club.
But he has remained “hellbent” on taking the club forward, and now refuses to even think about a future without an upgraded playing surface and clubrooms.
Reilly has led the football and netball club for the past two seasons. He said he saw the end of his presidential shelf-life, and at Emerald’s AGM two weeks ago looked to hand over the reins to a younger but equally as enthusiastic charge. Enter Pearton.
The 20-something primary school teacher, who first donned an Emerald jumper at just eight years of age, bleeds Bomber Red and Black. He can’t wait to put his skills to good use in leading the club to the top of first division.
But Pearton says the club’s biggest strength is the people it already has at its disposal, at the coalface affecting the change the club has desperately worked towards for almost 20 years.
He is going to work with the likes of tireless Reilly to see that Emerald finally gets its new facilities. They simply won’t take no for an answer.
“We’ve got the right people in the right place and I trust them 110 per cent that it’s going to happen – no ifs, no buts,” Pearton said.
“If there’s a bend in the road, it’s not the end of it. We’re going to go around that corner and hit the straight and get it done.
“We’re hellbent on it because I have no doubt this club will turn into one of the biggest in the Yarra Valley (league).”
Reilly isn’t afraid to admit he was “bitterly disappointed” in the senior footballers’ 2012 season.
“I really thought we underachieved and we weren’t helped by the condition of the (Chandler Reserve) ground,” he said.
“Instead of it being a strength, it was a real weakness.”
Reilly says the side was good enough to make the finals and compete on the big stage, given a level playing field.
But next season the Bombers look set to be playing home games at Beaconsfield’s Perc Allison oval. Gone are the days of star players Josh Taylor and Ryan Simpson having to pick the Sherrin up from out of a literal Avonsleigh bog-heap.
Emerald’s dogged determination to improve is typified by its strength in numbers.
Despite disappointing on-field and on-court performances this year by the Bombers, the club still had over 200 people at its presentation night.
“Everyone’s pretty excited about what’s in store for us,” Reilly said.
“Everyone can see that the opportunities are here.
“It’s a perfect time now for a younger president to come in, one that can relate more to the young guys and (Shane) is going to have really good support around him, which is the main thing.”
Pearton, last season’s reserves skipper, said he was “excited and driven” to lead the Bombers into a new era.
“I’ve sat back and had a look at everyone on the committee and what they do and their involvement with the club,” he said.
“Their passion is all pointing in the exact same spot.
“They all know how many years it can take to get back on your feet once you get knocked down. You can fall off your perch in one season and it can take you five or six to get back up.
“But falling off the perch is not an issue – we’ve strapped ourselves on and we’re staying there.”
