SETTING UP

By Matt Fotia

Seville’s drought breaking premiership win- and more than likely promotion to Division One – is just the start according to club President Mick Shore, who spoke passionately after the Blues 62 point win at Yarra Glen on Saturday.

“We’ve just got keep changing, juniors is the biggest part, our juniors are starting to grow and we desperately want Under 18’s – we should have a senior womens team next season,”

“What’s important to the town is having an under 16 side so that you’ve got a full compliment and you’ve got that next bunch coming through.”

Shore, who was still playing when the Blues were last in Division One, came into his role as President with an eye for setting the club up off-field, especially in terms of facilities and has fought hard to make sure he keeps his ‘footy head’ out of the on field stuff.

He says the impending upgrade to the Blues distinctive home ground – ‘the Chip’, named as such for its resemblance to a potato crisp, is key to setting up a sustainable future.

“The ground, kids don’t want to play on it anymore, because why would you want to play on that and I fully understand where they’re coming from,”

“The Federal Government has put in $900k so we believe its happening at the end of 2020 – and it’s got to be levelled out'”

“The way I see it is that we’re the gateway to the Yarra Valley and we could attract so much, once the grounds done we could guarantee the longevity of the club,”

“You know if we can get one final, maybe two a year, you could have Yarra Junction, Powelltown, Thornton-Eildon or Warburton Millgrove hosting a final at Seville and that’s important, because if we haven’t got those clubs (further down the line) we haven’t got a competition.”

Bringing the focus back to the days preceding events, which had seen Shore’s beloved Blues run riot in the the second half on their way to premiership glory, the club legend took a moment to revel in the small things.

“I look at people like Paul Bailey and Mark Cecere who have played in four losing Grand Finals before today,”

“I remember that Nugget (Kane Shore) and Josh Fraser played in an Under Nine Premiership together, you know Frank Iacuone was a premiership player at the club and now so is Daniel,”

“It’s all good stuff.”

Team Manager Dave Wind was on the bench for the entirety of Saturday’s game and says despite the fact Blues were in control of the match for the whole second half, the coaching staff refused to rest until the final siren – even if he and some others had already begun the party.

“We were six goals up and it was great, I thought we can start celebrating now,”

“But Nugget wasn’t having any of that sh*t – he wasn’t happy until the final siren went,”

“But the whole day the boys were fantastic – they all played their role.”

And whilst the 21 players who drew every inch out of themselves in the September sun will no doubt enjoy the celebrations and adulations for days, maybe weeks to come, Shore was quick to point out that the Blues success has come from more then having 20-30 good footballers on its list.

He’s well aware that sustained success – which is what the Blues ultimately desire – comes about from a whole club effort.

“The next step is a good one, the ground is the first investment in the club, it’s our investment,”

“But you know Carly McDonnell has done a sensational job with the netball as well and that plays a massive part – everyone plays a part,”

“This wasn’t won by just the coach and the players,”

“This was won by the whole club – the whole community.”