Demons declare Finlayson as seniors coach

PORTARLINGTON Football Club has made the first step to a more promising 2023 season, announcing the appointment of Warren Finlayson as its senior coach until the end of 2024.

Finlayson comes into the role two months after outgoing coach Pete O’Connor announced his departure from the BFL club.

A former player of the Drysdale, Bannockburn and Thomson football clubs, Finlayson spent most of last season coaching Torquay’s Under 16 Division 1 side, a good stepping stone into senior footy.

“I’m really excited to take on the role,” Finlayson said.

“It’s a bit of a clean slate for the club with someone external coming in, there are plenty of juniors running around at Portarlington, which will be a great landscape to teach and learn at.”

Portarlington struggled again in 2022, going winless throughout its 18 games of the season, accruing a percentage of 18.18 and averaging 30 total points per game.

Finlayson hopes a high-pressure brand of football and the possibility of some new recruits can start to get 2023 off on a more optimistic note.

“We want to improve, we want to become a destination football club that people think about while enjoying the Bellarine,” he said.

“We want to apply more effort and we’ll look to do that through hopefully being an increased or improved pressure team.

“That will enable more opportunities and having watched a bit of footage from 2022, there were a few games where we had plenty of scoring shots.

“We want to get on the back of that and remain in games for longer.”

Finlayson’s coaching reveal also coincided with Portarlington’s netball coaching announcement, welcoming Jarryd Anton to the Demons.