The rise of the Redbacks?

Nathan Dawes has been part of an impressive leadership group that has been working hard to lift Hampton Park from the bottom of the Casey Cardinia league ladder. 117315 Picture: JARROD POTTER

By DAVID NAGEL

FANS of the Casey Cardinia Football League can breathe easy… Hampton Park is on the rise and will be a far more competitive outfit than that of the last two seasons.
Just to reflect… not a lot has gone right for the boys from Robert Booth Reserve since losing the 2011 elimination final. The loss of key players, combined with the move to Reid Oval in Doveton, while its home ground was being renovated, tested the club like never before.
But not once has the club buckled, not through the 100, 200 and even 300 point losses, or through the times when the Redbacks were denied the essentials that other clubs take for granted.
Now it time to make amends, time to make up lost ground, time to become a competitive football club again!

Read more of new coach Matt O’Neil’s comments and catch up with the rest of this week’s footy in the Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition.