By LIAM TWOMEY
SINCE Altona’s finals exit at the hands of Sunshine last month, the rumour mill has been in full swing when it comes to the Vikings.
But newly appointed committee member and reserves premiership coach Aaron Freeland wants to set the record straight.
He and his Altona club mates are fed-up with talk of poor finances and a player walkout, and want to let the WRFL world know they plan on hitting the 2014 season stronger than ever.
“There is obviously a fair bit of rumour and discussion about our footy club which is frustrating,” Freeland said.
“No-one wants their club spoken about in that way.
“What it does is, it encourages other sides to contact your list because they feel there is some vulnerability there.
“We certainly want to present to the rest of the league and surrounding leagues that we have got a strong culture and that the players have indicated that they want to stay.”
After building its success through the juniors, Freeland expressed how frustrating it is to see massive offers made to some of the club’s rising stars.
As well as its 2012 senior flag, Altona has won the last two reserve premierships and went through this season’s under-16 competition undefeated.
“I personally never played for money and I just think some of the offers that are getting bandied around for players and great kids from the footy club, it is certainly hard to compete with,” he said.
“We like to remunerate our players as best we can but some of the offers are just astronomical.
“It is all well and good clubs spending a lot of money but what do they do when that runs out?”
At this stage the only big name that may not be at Altona for round one next year is Jayden Post, who is travelling overseas.
However, Freeland said that Post was committed to playing for the football club upon his return.
With eight of the 2013 division one clubs replacing their coaches since the end of the season, the Vikings are the only ones yet to name a successor.
The club will be accepting applications until Friday 1 November.
“The coaching situation is all going well,” Freeland said.
“We have a shortlist at the moment and there has been a fair bit of interest in the position.
“I would be encouraging anyone out there that hasn’t applied to certainly apply.”
The coaching switch won’t be the only change at Altona with the club also making some adjustments to its board.
Most notably, Brendan Post (father of Jayden) is taking over as president from David Gusman.
“We are hoping local businesses and other supporters of the footy club can stand up to try and help the club out for one or two years off the field,” Freeland said.
“I’m personally going on to facilitate the role of sponsorship manager for the footy club and basically we want to get more business like people on our committee.”
