By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Silverbacks already won Gridiron Victoria’s Division 2 crown as a nomadic team well behind the eight-ball.
Look out, now that the playing field is level.
More to the point, they’ve now finally got their own playing field, at Heatherbrae Recreation Reserve in Officer, and the club – which is still soaring on the back of a championship win in just its second season – is set to become much, much stronger.
The Silverbacks have been in consultation with the Cardinia Shire Council over the past 12 months to find a ground suitable to host games. The club’s junior side has been able to play games in Pakenham over the past two seasons – thanks largely to the help of other local sporting clubs – but the roaring success of the senior side and a booming interest in the sport has meant that finding a more permanent home has been paramount.
“The distances the senior side has had to travel have been phenomenal, with the closest games for the team last year being in Morwell or Reservoir, and three trips to Bendigo in the late half of the season,” said Silverbacks president, senior player and co-founder Richie Howlett.
“While the feeling around the team has been great, you can sense that the travel is a limiting factor for a lot of guys, and we’ve heard from potential players that couldn’t commit because of it.
“It also makes it harder for friends, family and supporters to come along to games.
“We’ve been blessed to have really strong local support, and being able to play in front of a home crowd can have a real impact on the outcome of any given game.
“We want to reward the families on the sideline who support our boys.”
Howlett said the club hoped to capitalise on the better facilities to build a bigger, stronger side.
“At some point in the future, whether this coming season or beyond, we’re planning to make an application to enter the side into Division 1,” he said.
“To do that, we’re going to have to step up not just the physical aspect of the training, but also the ‘chalk talks’ and video review that we haven’t yet been able to do as a team.”
Howlett said he “couldn’t be happier” with where the club is headed due to its predicted growth over the next 12 months. The Silverbacks are hoping to introduce a women’s team as well, which until now they simply haven’t had the facilities for. Being able to host home games will provide the club with a much-needed source of revenue via the canteen, but Howlett went even further – saying: “It also allows the whole community to come along and take ownership of the team – something we’ve been striving for from the very get go”.
The club reached another significant milestone on the weekend with its juniors winning the first game on home soil for a Silverbacks side – 22-12 over the Monash Warriors at Lakeside. The game started out with some strong offensive plays but a few costly Pakenham mistakes gave Monash the lead.
An interception from quarterback Lee Belton was returned for the first score of the game but he showed his strength of character to bounce back and find tight end Mitch Farrant in the end-zone.
Monash maintained its advantage heading into the half thanks to a Pakenham fumble that was returned for another six points, but the Silverbacks came out of the break with a real sense of purpose.
Strong rushing efforts from Felise Mataupu and Daniel Valeitabuki set up good position for Belton to throw another touchdown. It was called back for a penalty, but only minutes later he threw another, this time to Chevy Edwards, to give Silverbacks the lead again.
The story of the second half was the dominance of the Silverbacks’ defence. Captain Jaxson Mahy was able hold down the run-game from middle linebacker, and Laquon Laumua, who recently trialled with the Melbourne Storm under-18s, was a stand-out on the defensive line, putting consistent pressure on the Monash quarterback and racking up a series of strong tackles.
Another fourth quarter score, this time a bootleg quarterback keep from Belton, put the game further out of reach of the Warriors.
The Silverbacks are now fifth on the junior standings and will this week face off against local rivals the Berwick Miners at Sydney Pargeter Reserve in Endeavour Hills, from 1.30pm this Sunday.
