NICK DILLON
PARINGA A grade football coach Peter Siddall is hoping to find a silver lining in the abandonment of the 2020 RFL season.
Siddall was one of eight new coaches appointed in the Independent competition earlier this year and has been forced to endure one of the longest waits to coach his first game.
The 35-year-old inherited a side which had played in back-to-back grand finals, but the line-up in 2021 is expected to be very different.
Among those who have moved on from the club’s 2018 premiership team include Duthie Medallist Andrew Lloyd (Renmark), club best and fairests Joel Watson (injury) and Jono Wood (Wunkar), grand final hero Steven Raeder (not playing), as well as mainstays Duane Angel (Southern Saints), Aiden White (moved away), James McGrath (Renmark) and Dean Hill (Cobdogla).
However, the club is heading in a new direction with a focus on youth and club culture, something Siddall has had the opportunity to get a head-start on thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The young kids were the keenest this year,” he said. “And (COVID) gave a lot of older guys the opportunity to take some time away with no pressure.”
Siddall said the club trained all the way up until August this year and had around 15 to 20 players at its recent gathering to discuss the 2021 season.
“We’ll just continue on with what we finished with last year,” he said.
“We’ve still got a heap of guys keen to get into it. I’m getting messages every day asking whether we’re going to start soon.
“I think everyone’s just trying to get over what happened last year and it’s going to be a bit of a process to get everyone back into the mentality of playing footy again. That’s across the board – not just us.
“But as a club we’re ready and keen to get back into it.”
Siddall still has some handy footballers at his disposal, including emerging forward Cohen Baptie, veteran goalsneak Chris Gardner, a more mature Ben Gudgeon, gun midfielder Fraser Peters, rebounding defenders Dale Salmon and Josh Honey, and the Hanlon brothers – Joel and Adam.
But the two men Siddall will likely rely on most are Whillas Medallist Sam Frahn and his brother Zac, the latter of whom has big things expected of him next season.
A talented ruckman for a number of years, Siddall is hoping the younger Frahn can take his game to another level.
Siddall also has big wraps on former Renmark junior Brock Morey making his debut in the red and white.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Brock out there too,” he said. “The way he trains, I’m excited to see him on game day.”
As far as recruits go, Siddall remained tight-lipped, but was hopeful of unveiling some new Swans before Christmas.
“We’ve got a few things in the pipeline at the moment, but we’re taking it as it comes,” he said.
“Our numbers are good and we’ll be competitive.
“It will come down to whether we can the recruits we’re chatting to at the moment.”
Siddall said the club would likely hold a couple of trainings prior to Christmas before ramping up early next year.
The club – which merged with the town’s netball club last year – also held its second attempt at an annual general meeting recently after the first failed to record a quorum.
However, the second meeting was a resounding success, with Jason Pilgrim staying on as club president. He will be joined by Siddall, Molly Murphy, John Clohesy, Karen Frahn, Adam Forbes, Hamish Lawrie and Craig and Gayle Gudgeon on the committee.