Parkside coach George Lattouf hopes the same coaching mentality that helped Australia wrestle back the Ashes urn will help his side climb up the ladder this year.
Lattouf said he was intent on making sure his side enjoyed playing football, an old-school philosophy similar to that adopted by Australian coach Darren Lehmann before his side’s recent 5-0 whitewash of England.
“Darren Lehmann has brought back the fun into his cricket side. He’s gone back to the basics and said enjoy being around your teammates,” Lattouf said.
“That’s what I’m looking at, it’s as simple as that.”
Lattouf hopes the positive feeling within his squad will be enhanced by a training and team bonding weekend in Rosebud next month.
He said the experience of a weekend away together would help his squad’s older and younger players jell together.
“I’m pretty big on the team aspect of football, like every other coach,” he said.
“It will involve a lot of cardio stuff…a lot of fitness stuff on sand.
“It’s all about working really hard together.”
Lattouf said young recruit Billy Hogan, one of the players previously earmarked for a breakout 2014, had been training with Port Melbourne.
He said the club hoped Hogan played most of the season with the Borough, but would be happy to add him to its senior side whenever possible.
“If they can expose themselves to a higher level of football, especially in the VFL, then they’ve got our blessing,” he said.
Lattouf said nearly all of his side from 2013 had committed to the club for another season in the Northern Football League Division 3 competition.
He said the club wanted to add another midfielder and forward to its mix before the Rosebud trip in mid-February.
“If we sign them up then that would be great, but I’m also very happy with the senior squad I have at the moment,” he said.
Lattouf said he was confident the club could improve with a similar list to last year if it had a better run with injury.
Parkside will return to pre-season training on January 21.
This article is courtesy of Leader Newspaper.
