PORTLAND Football Netball Club has welcomed two new faces to the helm of their senior football and Open netball programs, with Lochie Huppatz and Laura Kelly respectively stepping up to take on the positions for 2024.

Both are former players at the club, with Huppatz having played his junior football in Portland before becoming an integral part of their 2022 Hampden Football Netball League campaign which saw the club reach its first ever senior football finals, culminating in a victory over Warrnambool in the elimination final.

Meanwhile, Kelly also played her junior netball in Portland, departing after the 2017 season and has since enjoyed premiership success during her time with Alvie Football Netball Club in the Colac and District league.

Preseason

The introduction of two new faces with a fresh perspective on the roles has certainly paid off when it comes to preseason enthusiasm, with both coaches reporting strong turnouts to training sessions so far.

“The main message since the start has been to get the group really united and coming together as a group, and see where the year can take us, and as a group I think they bought in really well,” Huppatz said.

“I think we probably averaged close to 30 on the track per night before Christmas, and the club was able to put on food and drink after our Friday night sessions, which was a nice little way to keep the morale really high.

‘I think the word around town was positive, and even through the Christmas break we had a number of blokes posting their runs up on our Facebook group which was great to see.

“It’s something that as a club probably hasn’t been our strength when it comes to being really professional on that side of things.

“We’ve done two sessions post-Christmas, and we had 40 on the track on the Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of room to improve on that side of things.

“It reminds people that they need to come out to training and train well if they want to secure their spot and get a game, which as a club is exactly what you want.”

Kelly echoed Huppatz’s sentiments, saying her limited opportunities to train with the netballers have yielded plenty of positives at this stage.

“I’ve only just got back to town and been able to start preseason this year, we’ve had four sessions so far, so we’ve been training twice a week, and I’ve thrown in an extra session on top of that, it’s been really good numbers,” she said.

“I wasn’t expecting such good numbers at this stage with girls probably still being away on holidays, but the turnout has been strong across all grades, including the junior girls.

“It’s good to see some new faces amongst the group who have come through in the eight years since I’ve been away.

“Similar to what Lochie said, the more the girls are coming to training the more they’re realising they need to be there and be amongst the team.

“The vibes have definitely been up there; we’ve been able to go for some recovery swims and have beers after trainings which has been lots of fun.”

Recruitment

Recruitment wise, the club has brought a few football players back into the fold for 2024, with Brett Uebergang, who played for Tyrendarra in 2023, former Heathmere playing-coach Adrian Hann and Dylan Barr all signing on, while Lochie’s brother Damon has also committed.

Meanwhile, the key signing for the Open netball contingent is Shakira Stuchbery coming over from Heywood.

Stuchbery played a few games for Portland throughout last season and will help to sure up their goal circle alongside Heidi Jones for this season.

“It’s been really pleasing, but I think the key message from our recruiting team is that we wanted to focus on bringing our core playing group back from last season, and overall, just focus on retaining locals and bringing locals back to the club,” Huppatz said.

“Those are the people who help to build the culture and character of a club, you’ve got that family aspect to it, and you bring in some familiar faces and names to the club.

“We felt that anyone from this area that believes they’re up to playing in the Hampden league should have that opportunity.

“The signings we’ve made will all have their own strengths to add, whether it’s an outside player like Brett or an inside player like ‘Dyl’ or the veteran smarts and leadership of ‘Chuky’ (Hann).

“I think it’s only the start of things to come, so watch this space.”

“My focus as a returning player myself was on ensuring that we got those players who had been playing or who were in the area to recommit for this coming season, and most of the girls who I know from last year have said they’re coming back which is great,” Kelly said.

“Shakira is a very handy pick up for us, she worked really well with Heidi last year by all accounts, and we’re certainly still talking to people, so things haven’t stopped recruiting wise.

“And I suppose the word is out there that anyone who is unsure or considering coming down and playing the offer is always there to be a part of our preseason training, we certainly cater to all abilities.

“We’ve had a new couple in town who have been there at footy and netball training, so it’s been really good to see some new faces around the club.”

Both sides have also had a few players leave their ranks for one reason or another this off-season, with last year’s vice-captain Sam Hampshire departing the club ahead of 2024, along with midfielder Davey Denboer and forward Jackson Dunlop

In the netball ranks midcourt player Lexie Petch and division one shooter Jess Cook have signed with South West District Netball League club Heathmere while versatile youngster Tyleah Barr, who has signed with Heywood, won’t be suiting up for Portland’s Open netball side in 2024.

Unity

A major emphasis which has come through from both coaches has been on fostering unity not only within the football and netball teams in their own capacities, but also between the two sports.

“We had a training session last year where we invited the netballers down for some football training, and while they might have been bored out of their minds for some of it, it was a good chance to all come together, and we had a barbecue and beers afterwards so that was a lot of fun,” Huppatz said.

“We’ll certainly be heading over to the netball courts at some stage and having the girls put us through our paces.

“That’s the starting point, but we’ve also got a really strong social committee as well who has a lot in the works when it comes to ideas about bringing new couples to the club or just generally keeping the social side of things really strong, which I think has always been a strength of ours.”

“I there’s a benefit there with the both of us being quite young ourselves and there’s certainly an emphasis on the girls side of things with wanting to do stuff with the footballers,” Kelly said.

“I think for myself and Lochie we both really have something to add as despite our age both of us have spent a fair bit of time away and playing elsewhere, and I think for myself I’ve been quite lucky in that I’ve had the opportunity to play under some younger coaches myself.

“We’ve got lots of experience around the club and lots of senior mentors to kind of draw upon, and personally I always enjoyed having my coach out there playing with me.

“I think a lot of the girls at training where pretty excited when I told them I was playing and not just coaching.”

“It’s very similar from my point of view, we’ve actually got a bit of a new set-up this year where we’ll have Tom Sharp as our forwards coach, Ben Malcolm as our midfield coach and Jake Wilson as our defenders coach,” Huppatz said.

“There’s a lot of experience and knowledge there, ‘Sharpy’ is a former senior coach here at Portland, Jake brings VFL team of the year, and Hampden team of the year last year, experience to the side, and ‘Benny’ has been perhaps the standout ruckman in the competition over the last decade or so.

“So, we’re a pretty young group but we’ve also got a very strong leadership core to go along with it.

“I think we see this as kind of a two-year plan that’s unfolding where we believe that we can carry some momentum across from this season and set ourselves up for success in 2025, but of course the goal right now is to fast-track that and be a finals contender in 2024.”