By Marcus Uhe
Pakenham Football Club’s internal animus surrounding its future and direction is beginning to spill into the public eye.
Outer East Football Netball (OEFN) released a statement on July 24, stating that Pakenham was one of four clubs that OEFN had received advice from; with Pakenham advising it was ‘exploring options’ as it looked to transfer both football and netball away from OEFN.
Pakenham FC took to Facebook the next day to clarify its intentions to its stakeholders.
It’s the third consecutive year the club has opted to consider other competitions, and in 2023 it joined Narre Warren and Cranbourne in formally applying to join the Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League (MPFNL), a move that was rejected by the league’s member clubs.
The powers at be at Toomuc Reserve have a strong desire to compete in the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC), a region in which it was a previous powerhouse as a Foundation member of the West Gippsland Football League, winning 21 senior football premierships between 1927 and 2000.
On the same day as the club’s statement on 25 July, senior coach Paul Carbis, president Derrick Brown and vice president Aaron Green met to discuss how they felt the club was tracking, and what was required going forward.
It came after a dismal loss at home against Emerald the previous Saturday in round 14, arguably their most disappointing performance of 2024, and heading into the second week of the Outer East’s split round, of which Pakenham was scheduled for the week off.
Carbis took training the following Tuesday night, 30 July, as standard, but on Thursday morning, 1 August, he contacted the club to inform them that he was resigning from his position as senior coach, effective immediately.
Carbis opted not to comment at this time but thanked the club for the opportunity to coach the senior side.
What shaped as the ideal marriage between a club looking for a fresh voice on the back of its best finish in OEFN’s short history of Premier Division, and a man with VFL coaching experience under his belt, ended after less than 12 months.
Carbis was appointed in October 2023 after the club chose not to reappoint Ash Green as senior coach.
Green had led Pakenham to a finals campaign in OEFN’s Premier Division for the first time in 2023, where they finished 14 points shy of a preliminary final berth, and coached them to the grand final in Division One in 2019.
With a playing group remaining largely in-tact from the previous year, plus a handful of additions from Carbis’ previous club, Garfield, there was plenty of optimism at Toomuc Reserve for what 2024 could provide, leading the new coach to declare in March that the Club’s goal “is to get in the top three” of OEFN’s Premier Division.
At the time of his departure, the Lions languished in ninth position on the Premier Division table, with four wins and 10 losses to show for Carbis’ tenure at the helm, putting the Lions firmly in relegation conversations with four rounds to play.
Through 14 rounds, Pakenham’s only wins came against bottom-placed Berwick Springs (twice), Monbulk, with a goal after the siren, and Emerald, a team fighting for its life to stay in Premier Division.
While competent offensively, scoring a seventh-highest 66 points per contest, defensively they battled to contain sides, conceding 80 points per game, the third-worst mark through 14 rounds.
Critical losses to sides below them on the table in wet conditions, against Gembrook Cockatoo in round 11 and Emerald in round 14, showed an inability of the playing group to learn from previous mistakes and adapt to the circumstances at hand.
Poor opening quarters, meanwhile, became an unwanted trend, winning just six of 14 and continually finding itself on the back foot early in games.
Brown said that the club had not reached the internal expectations that it had coming in to 2024.
“As much as we all wanted it to work and everyone would be jumping for joy at the end of the season and all the rest of it, it hasn’t panned out that way and it’s unfortunate, it’s not where either party really wanted to be,” the president said.
“Paul had some good attributes and that’s why he was appointed, but unfortunately for both parties, it didn’t work out.
“I wish him the best of luck; he’s the one that’s left, so it obviously hasn’t been something that he’s seen as a long-term play for him.
“He enjoys his footy and no doubt he’ll find a job in the near future at another club.”
Brown said the desire for the club to consider its options is with the long term future and broader Pakenham community in mind, and the process of finding the club’s next coach has already begun.
“All we want to do is be able to play community sport in an area that we’re all familiar, and make sure it’s enjoyable for all our members,” he said.
“I think you’re always looking to what is the long term benefit, and the long term benefit, as we’re finding out, with all the clubs that were in the South East Football Netball League (SEFNL) that originally were in the Outer East, have now gone to all other places.
“The only two that remain are Officer and Pakenham.
“I think it’s getting to the stage, and I think from Pakenham’s point of view, that things are quite serious, and something needs to be done, for the betterment of the local sporting area, and particularly the Pakenham Football Club.
“The appetite to recruit players into this competition is not where we would like it to be.
“The players would have to explain the reasons why, but it’s certainly a little bit of a hiccup when you’re going to speak to players.
“We’ve just got to look forward and do the best we can for the balance of the year, and the next part to that is, we’ll be looking for a senior coach, because we haven’t got one.”
The club has not formally applied to join the WGFNC as of writing, with applications opening on 1 August.
Pakenham Football Club and Pakenham Netball Club will remain OEFN clubs unless advised by AFL Victoria, the OEFN said in July 24’s statement, between August 1 and October 31.
