Futures: Subiaco completes another successful season

A new approach to the Subiaco Football Club’s Futures program has yielded similar success, whilst also creating innovation.

The Lions went 5-1 across the season, finishing second on the ladder on percentage. 67 players were included as part of the program, including 14 from Subiaco's regional zone in Kalgoorlie and Esperance.

Among them, 56 were called on to represent the Lions across the six games this year, which is higher than the average number across the Futures competition. Subiaco Talent Manager Stuart Berryman said the increased number provides players the opportunity they otherwise may not have access to.

“At 16, the boys are going through a growing period where some of them have finished maturing and others haven’t started growing yet,” he said.

“By holding a larger squad, you capture more boys who might come on in later years.

“If you cut that down too narrow, you might miss out on some talent.”

Berryman said there should be a balance between the squad size, and the ratio for coaches to players, so feedback isn’t diluted. The coaches were another new aspect of the Subiaco Futures program. A new board was selected, with fresh individual line coaches to give new ideas and a different perspective.

While it proved to be an on-field success, Berryman said there’s more to the program than just wins.

“First and foremost, it’s to prepare the boys for Colts football, and then getting them towards senior football,” he said.

“Futures is where we focus more on where they’re playing, in the positions we think they’re going to end up down the track.

“It’s so they can hone in on their craft.”

The squad reviews their games, and are able to get insight into how they set up structurally, in stoppages, and identify leading patterns. As a result of their success, a number of the Futures from this season have been asked to train on with the Colts, and could play a role for the side this year.

Berryman said he’s been impressed by the talent coming through.

“The top end talent is good, but the depth of the squad is strong compared to previous years,” he said.

“I think there’s a large number of them next year who will be pushing for Colts squad selection.”

The Futures program is a proven method which has seen talent in the pathway progress to forge careers at the highest level. Fremantle duo Neil Erasmus and Matt Johnson both went through the Subiaco talent system, with the latter featuring at the League level for the Lions prior to being drafted.