By Tyler Lewis
Once irrelevant, now authoritative, the rise of the Frankston Dolphins has only just begun.
Formerly a four-point banker in the fixture, the Dolphins’ 2021 form suggested opposition clubs coming in with complacency against this reinvigorated group will see them leaving licking their wounds.
In his first season at the helm, senior coach Danny Ryan and his men could just salvage the one victory, a crushing win over North Melbourne.
But in 2021, the Dollies were in eighth at the conclusion of the season with a 6-5 record.
In pre-season Frankston has further added to its AFL experience, by adding more formerly league listed recruits.
“Depth of experience, you can’t teach it, so how do you recruit it,” Danny Ryan said of his recruits.
“Last year Josh Begley came in and so did Ben Jacobs…Jacobs never played, that was always a long shot.
“Begley had 17 games of AFL experience, Joel Crocker and Sam Fletcher came in, they were on AFL list’s but never played… this year we have brought in 68 games, so fair difference.
“We see it at training, we see it in meetings, we see it reflected in a lot of ways, guys that just have an understanding of the higher level and who are starting to drive the bus I suppose.”
The Dolphins played an exceptionally exciting brand of footy last year, often sending the (in) famous hill into raptures when the side got a run on.
Ryan spoke of the culture that his club is now driving, while also revealing a new benchmark.
“It’s pretty simple, it’s about working our arses off but having fun at the same time,” he said.
“Everyone is pretty aligned into what the purpose is, and the purpose is building a winning culture.
“When I say winning culture, I mean we win more games than we lose, that is a clear aspiration.
“It’s about continually improving and becoming relevant in the competition.
“There has been a previous culture of hoping we go well, now we are not hoping, we know we aren’t perfect, but we know we are damn good at some things and that makes us competitive.”
While there is a lot of justified talk about the boom recruits that are lacing up at Skybus Stadium, Ryan is particularly pleased with the ‘organic growth’.
“We are having organic growth from within,” he said.
“Everyone forgets about the players you haven’t recruited that have been at the club for two or three years.
“Kye Owens has found a new role and is playing good footy; Josh Stern is building off last year; Joe Lloyd and Jackson Voss have had three years at Frankston now and have an understanding of how to play Dolphins football.
“They’re having an impact, there is a lot of impact coming from within… every team has it, we are nothing special, but it’s been pleasing.”
Though at this time of the year every club has the objective of claiming the ultimate prize, Ryan has his own goal for this year and knows that improving on its six win haul from last year is going to be an enormous feat.
“I think it is no different to last year, we want to be super competitive, hard to play against… if you beat us, you’re going to have to really earn it,” he said.
“We are building a winning culture, last year showed us we know what winning looks like, we know what it feels like, more importantly.
“The higher you go up the mountain, the steeper it gets.”
The Dolphins host Werribee under lights on Saturday 26 March to kick off its 2022 VFL campaign.
