Stone commits to 2023 extension

THE “Rock” of Lara Football Club will remain at Bisinella Oval for a fifth year following the confirmation that head coach Shayne Stone inked a one-season extension on his contract.

Stone’s long-standing history with the Cats coupled with a turbulent two-year period were the two underpinning factors in the decision to stay with the club he loves.

“It’s really about stability at the club I guess,” Stone said. “We’re making in-roads at the moment, and the club has been through too much change in a sense that when we start making progress, we make a change that disrupts that.

“We have a good group that wants to get better and even though our results haven’t been up to scratch, our football is actually getting better, and we are progressing.”

Stone arrived at Lara as a player in 1990 and has considered the club his home ever since, including being a part of the Cats first Geelong Football League premiership in 1994.

Despite a hard-fought win over St Albans last week, Lara do find themselves in an uphill battle to get off the lower levels of the GFL standings with a ghastly one win, nine loss record.

With finals realistically out of the realm of possibility, Stone’s extension allows his side the opportunity to pick up some effective momentum heading into 2023 knowing their leader will remain the same.

“The driver for me is to try and reward those guys who have been around a little while to feel the success and get the reward that this club has had in the past,” Stone said.

“It really is a great club and for the rest of the season, we’ll look to continue improving and get a few wins under our belt to start working our way up the ladder.”

Lara in Round 11 faces perhaps the hardest challenge possible to attempt stringing together back-to-back wins as they head to Colac to try and tame the Tigers.

The Cats’ win over the Supersaints last week was its first since Round 4.