Grand final day didn’t bring the results Craigieburn Football Club wanted, but it showed the Essendon District Football League club is moving in the right direction.
The Eagles’ senior and under-18.5 teams both played off in division 1 grand finals, losing both, while the reserves side also made finals.
Eagles president Brian Hall said the season proved the club was on the right track, after coming close to relegation last year.
“We were very happy with the results of having three sides in the finals,” Hall said last week.
“When we started to recruit players for the season, our goals changed. Our journey really began three to four years ago when we started rebuilding.
“We were looking for a good year this year, which is what we got.”
Hall said the goal now was to make further development and, hopefully, return to premier division.
“We’re hopeful that we can go one step better. That was our goal when we started to rebuild the club.”
The first step was retaining this year’s playing group, and coach Peter Budgen was reappointed in the lead-up to the grand final.
Former AFL players Jason and Cameron Cloke have signed on again, as have Jeremy Page, Josh Young and David Courouzou. The five joined the club this season and were all selected in the EDFL division 1 team of the year.
“Everyone we have who wanted to sign, we have signed,” Hall said.
“We’d heard a number of rumours that other clubs had wanted them [the Cloke brothers], but we were always confident they would recommit to us.”
He said the club was on the lookout for a key backman and wanted to add a bit of speed to the side.
While the recruits took a lot of the spotlight, the Eagles’ under-18.5 and junior sides continue to grow and develop. “Definitely, in the next two to three years, all those players will be coming through into the seniors,” Hall said.
“We had two under-16 players in the under-18.5 grand final and two or three under-18.5s in the senior grand final.
“At certain stages, we had about 90 players on the track for our senior teams, which is saying people want to play for us.”
Meanwhile, premier division side Greenvale has signed Northern Saints’ stars Fort and Nat Caruso for next season.
