Falcon heads home

GEELONG Falcons premiership forward Mitch Chafer was lost at season’s end last year, according to Torquay coach Dom Gleeson.

With his under-18 career over and no AFL offers heading his way, the next step for Chafer lacked clarity.

The most logical option would have been to go back to St Mary’s, where he had trained sporadically and played just 11 games in three seasons.

The goal sneak tried out at Werribee, but that proved fruitless, before Gleeson offered him a return to Torquay.

“He was somewhat lost after the Falcons premiership and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do,” Gleeson said.

“He tried out at Werribee and got a new job at the same time and was having trouble juggling both with the travel.

“So he decided to come back to Torquay and find his ground a little bit. Hopefully we can encourage him to go to a higher level when he’s got his confidence back and has found a sense of belonging.”

Gleeson said Chafer had never really left Torquay, despite last pulling on the yellow and black in under-14s in 2014.

“I’d often see him down running around the oval and using our gym while he was at the Falcons,” he said.

“We just kept in contact with him.

“When you’re in and out of a club where you might only train once a fortnight in St Mary’s, he loved the club but just felt like he didn’t have that sense of belonging.

“He’s looking forward to playing at Torquay and being at home for a year, I think, and hopefully we can challenge him to go further with his footy.”

The reigning BFL premiers played their last of three practice matches last Friday night against a depleted Bell Park outfit at North Torquay.

Gleeson said both sides took plenty out of the hitout, despite missing players.

“We came out of it really well. We’ve got a great relationship now with Bell Park; obviously Luke Rayner is exTorquay and obviously Tim Sheringham, I think, is still one of the better players in the competition at GFL level,” Gleeson said.