Flood defence key to Roos’ Premier League leap
Floods forced them to train at schools, but Deloraine coach Nathan Lowe is confident they will soon have the facilities worthy of a place in the fledgling Northern Premier League.
The Kangaroos were one of four current NTFA premier division clubs to be included in the inaugural six-team NTFA Premier League next year.
In October, 2022, the Roos were forced into a major rebuild after flooding destroyed their changerooms.
Lowe said facilities is the major criteria they are yet to fully satisfy for the premier league, but plans are in place to safeguard the clubhouse from flooding.
“Meander Valley council has all the plans and applications in, regarding the clubhouse itself and getting it out of the flood zone,” he said.
“We also want an extra training ground out the back of where we’re at to keep our ground in pristine shape for game days, and the gym and the changerooms will be upgraded.
“We can’t help where the ground is, to uproot ourselves would cost millions of dollars. But if we can get our clubhouse set up to where it’s out of the flood zone – the ground drains really quickly and a week after the floods we could have played on it.”
Deloraine began its season with a 35-point loss to George Town, but Lowe said they’ve spent two years preparing for inclusion in the new league.
They’ve recruited some handy players as a result, including former Latrobe forward and NWFL leading goalkicker Alex Diprose.
“We’ve added a bit more professionalism with the guys who have come from North (Launceston) and the other clubs,” he said.
“Every club’s known it’s been coming for a couple of years, and that’s why we’ve also blooded a lot of young fellas in preparation for the top tier.
“Our average age is still only 20, we’ve got that set up and the junior pathway we’ve spent a lot of time investing in is coming along nicely also.
“Our women’s team is going to be even stronger than what it was last year and we’ve got 300 registered players from under-10s to seniors.
“Things are looking strong but we need to upgrade our facilities to meet everybody’s standards. All the plans have been drawn up for that and applications made and AFL Tas is pushing it pretty hard as well.
“We’ve got under-18s, reserves, men’s and women’s teams. If we didn’t make it we would have been peeved off because we’ve met all the criteria and we’ve gone to work the last couple of years to get that right.”