COLTS COACH REPORT

While 2021 as a season did not reach the highs of 2020 in terms of winning a Colt’s premiership, as I sit here and reflect today, I can’t help but feel we are still on the right track in terms of developing Subiaco standard players and better young men from within our program. I wrote this in last year’s report “Winning a colt’s premiership is not the culmination of a life’s work Chayce Creedy and it’s not necessarily a group of men who have toiled and toiled for a long period of time to achieve ultimate success. The turnover and transition rate does not allow for long periods of continuity within a team, SO what is it?? It is a sign…..A sign that the underpinning development of a Club is strong, a sign that a successful standard has been met and success has followed and perhaps it’s a sign that we have much to look forward to if and when a majority side of locally produced and developed talent perhaps reach the ultimate success of A WAFL league premiership. For Subiaco a Club that has only won four colts’ premierships in its entire history of which two have come in the last three years maybe it is a sign perhaps that reality is not as far away as we once might of thought.” So, while 2021 from a pure wins and losses viewpoint was disappointing, the reality is this; at the end of 2020 we had twenty players transition into seniors and by the end of this season another four (4) had done the same. 11 players who played in the reserves grand final had played Colts in the last three years and the league premiership side contained six (6) players from the 2018 Colts premiership team. This shows a great pathway through our talent system for those prepared to put in the work required. This allowed us to play 55 players in total through the season with over half in their first year of Colts, we believe this will hold them in great stead heading into next season.

We were well represented in the Western Australian state program in 2021 with all players playing in at least one the games that were staged at both under 17 and 19 levels and performing well and with great dignity. Congratulations to the players selected; • Under 17s – Jacob Evitt, Tyzreise Clark and Koltyn Tholstrup • Under 19s - Matt Johnson, Neil Erasmus, Jake South and

Richard Farmer We were led in 2021 by Captain Campbell Henderson who was supported by Jared Thompson, Neil Erasmus and Cooper Tamlin. Our leadership group consisted of fantastic young men who did their upmost to try and drive the standards required to succeed at this level in what were challenging circumstances at times. We are blessed to have such great sponsors that help us to continue to drive our program. Thank you especially to Talent Pathway Major Sponsors AE Hoskins Building Services, and to Holman, Bendigo North Perth Community Bank, Topolinis, and Vision Financial Strategies. We are forever grateful for your continued support. We continue to try and build our connection to the community in which our players come from and I thank all the community coaches who I work with week in week out when our players are playing community football. Thank you for providing feedback on our players and for housing them when not playing at Subiaco. I also thank our regional academy who continue to do great work in promoting regional players and preparing them for working through the talent system. As with any football program there are many hands who work hard to make it happen and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for the effort and dedication they have to our talent program. So, to all listed below I thank you and look forward to working with you in the future. Assistant Coaches - Jason Hoskins, John Mansbridge Josh Leunig and Brett Davis Support Staff - Craig Francis, Karen South, James Claxon Talent Board Director - Gary Addison Runners - Nick Cleaver and Joel Broad

Strength and Conditioning – James Mckee, Andy Bottega and Samantha Harvey and the many wonderful prac students who go above and beyond to help our players. I would also like to thank both Beau and Dicko from within the Senior system who provide great support to talent and have focussed on transferring talent from the Colts system and integrating them in the Seniors. With both having firsthand experience in the Subiaco talent pathways is at a great advantage when it comes to the collaboration that occurs in building all our players ability to grow within Subiaco and the community. Thanks also to the Subiaco Executive led by President Mark Lawrence and CEO Peter Capes for allowing me to coach at this great Club. I can be challenging at times and no doubt they are sick of my continued push to find a more suitable training venue away from Les Lilleyman but they do provide no fuss support and challenge us at the right times to make sure we are heading in the right direction. This year we welcomed Stuart Berryman into the Talent Manager role, he came in right on the cusp of the season and had to quickly get up to speed with where we were at and he has done an excellent job so far. He will be much better placed as we head into season 2022 and I know he has a great vision for continuing to grow our program and I thank him for his support so far and into the future.

With season 2021 now behind us, we look forward to 2022. I have signed on as head coach again and regardless of what happens this will be my last year as Colts coach at Subiaco. There are facets of our program and delivery that I felt I didn’t quite nail this season and I want to see if I can improve our program and players before finishing up. That will be the challenge in 2022, can we get a more connected group both socially and on field, can we further educate players around craft and standards to see them improve and can we reach the heights we think the talented group that is coming through is capable of. At the moment we don’t have those answers, but we believe we have the people, the coaches and the players to be able to be able to achieve those things. That work has already started, and we look forward to next year.