2022 Season Preview- Southern Power

“Season 2022 is looking to be another positive year on-field and off-field for Southern Power. The club’s aim is to re-connect with our footy community this year, after 2 interrupted years due to Covid, and continue to build on the tremendous success the club has achieved in recent years.

Our Women’s program, both at Junior and Senior level, goes from strength-to-strength – offering an opportunity for all women of all skill levels to get involved in our great game. Fostering a high-performance environment for talented female athletes to realise their potential is at the forefront of the club’s values. This is evident with Brodee Mowbray being drafted to the GWS Giants for the current season, and Ruby Sargent-Wilson becoming the Sydney Swans first AFLW signing for the 2022/2023 season.

Our Men’s program continues to demand and deliver high standards of the playing group, across all grades, whilst also harvesting a culture of inclusiveness and fun for all. The boys have worked hard over numerous years to get the club to where it is today, and I back each of them to continue an upward trend of improvement going into 2022.”  Matt Last, Vice President

Pre-Season

Pre-season has gone very well for the club, with all players looking forward to hitting the ground running on 2nd April. Despite recent disruptions with the weather, the playing group has utilised a number of local facilities to keep the fitness ticking over in the lead up to the season.

We have new head coaches leading both the Men’s and Women’s programs for 2022 – Dean Rawlinson as Platinum Seniors head coach and Rhys Vance as Women’s Premier Division head coach. Both are tremendous Power people who will lead the programs into, hopefully, another successful campaign in 2022.

Sponsors

The club has partnered with a company called iSponsor, an innovative new company who’s purpose is to partner with local sporting clubs to provide an additional source of revenue for the club. We’ve slowly seen the fruits of this partnership come to life, which will contribute towards planned facility upgrades in the medium term.

The club thanks the continual partnership of Runnulla into season 2022. They are a well-established local business in Cronulla, who offer quality running equipment at competitive prices.

 

Men’s First Grade Team Preview (Platinum Division)

“The club has been on the track since November 2021 in preparation for this season. Fair to say we are very keen to get out there and play some footy. We believe we’ve got a good chance to play finals this year again and with a bit of luck be the last team standing on Grand Final day.” Dean Rawlinson, Platinum Division Head Coach

Player lighting up Pre-Season-	Always difficult to narrow it down to one player but Chris Davidson has lead from the front as he usually does. Hoani Tangohau has had a great preseason and I’m looking forward to seeing the results on field this year.
Rising Star to watch this Season-	Daniel Tait from our juniors has been putting in the hard yards and will provide us with some dash from the back half.
Big Ins (returning or new player)-	Co-captains Andrew Denoon and Barton Lynch are back again to lead the boys this year. We’ve also had some handy new arrivals to the club in Sam Buxton, Alex Ford and Jackson Bailey, coming in from VIC and QLD. We’re very excited to see what these guys will bring to the side this year.
Big Outs-	Josh Preston and Conor Aggett were senior side mainstays who have moved on after last season. We’ll miss them but it also provides an opportunity for someone to step up and grab their spot.
Team to beat in 2022, why?-	All sides in the comp are hard to beat when they are on however, Penrith have featured in most grand finals over the past few years so we expect them to be strong again. Mac Uni is always competitive. We look forward to challenging games against both these sides and the rest of the competition in 2022.

 

Women’s First Grade Team Preview (Women’s Premier Division)

“I’m very excited to lead the women in 2022, in what should hopefully be a successful year for our women’s program. We’ve done a tremendous amount of work over a number of years to get to a point where all women’s teams, Senior and Junior, continue to build a culture of safety, inclusiveness and fun.” Rhys Vance, Women’s Premier Division Head Coach

Player lighting up Pre-Season-	I’ve been very impressed with how Emily Eaves has gone this pre-season, with her overall application to her craft. The experience she has gained over the last few years in the Women’s Premier Division team, coming from the Youth Girls program, along with game time in the recent Summer Series, has put her in a great position to take her game to a new level in 2022.
Rising Star to watch this Season-	With good club representation at the Summer Series, expect to see players such as Sarah Heptinstall, Kyla Tracey and Kiahna Davis-White to create an impact on the Women’s Premier Division competition this year
Big Ins (returning or new player)-	She’s been part of our club for a few years now, but will hopefully come back this season as a completely new player – Kiara Beesley. She’s done a tremendous amount of work on rehab from her ACL injury last year, and we’re really excited to welcome her back and continue where she left off.
Big Outs-	Obviously Ruby Sargent-Wilson is a big out for us. But as a club we are thrilled for her to be named the Sydney Swans first AFLW signing for the 2022/2023 season. Losing Keiley Mead for the season as well is a big out for us, but we can count on her to continue to provide tremendous support and mentoring for the women’s program all the way through 2022.
Team to beat in 2022, why?-	I’m expecting the likes of East Coast and Manly to be the teams to beat again this year. Hopefully we give them a good run for their money!