2023 GNFL season preview: Brigades welcome Dean Pascoe as new president as grand final loss fires new hunger

While the off-season often sees plenty of player movement and changes in coaching staff, only one club has a new man at the top, with Dean Pascoe taking over from Craig Harrington as Brigades president. Pascoe was already the president of the junior department and has been around the club for 30 years, while he is also the president of Rams Softball Club ensuring he is busy all year round. “I was asked to step in after Harrington wanted to step away and I was happy to come in,” he said. “It’s a great club and I’m hoping to build upon the work done by Harrington and Jason O’Brien in recent years. “The support around me has been great and the coaches have been really good meaning I haven’t had to do much on that end and can just let them run things.” While one off-season is not that long of a time to get across the running of the football club Pascoe does have an eye on a few areas to work on. “We’ve got a brand new electronic scoreboard that should be installed in time for our first home game in round two which will look great and we’ve also brought in Soul Food cafe to take over catering which will be a big improvement on me and the boys putting beef and gravy roles together,” he said. “On the field, the league side is in a pretty good place so we’re looking to improve our women’s program to bring it up to the same level and help focus on transitioning our junior guys into the senior system. “Longer term, if I stay on, I want to keep pushing towards making the club more family-friendly and getting good numbers through the gate.” There’s no bigger test for the Hawks first up than taking on their grand final opponents in round one on Saturday but Pascoe know the boys are looking to atone for last year’s loss. “Talking to (Cory Foot) and players they’re extremely hungry this year knowing they let that opportunity slip last year with preseason beginning before Christmas,” he said. “We’ve got some great players coming in including Jack and Henry Perham, sons of Steve, and with the shortened season we know you’ve got to really hit the ground running this year.” One man who won’t be lining up on Saturday is the league’s all-time leading goal kicker as Dale Williamson recovers from an injury suffered in the break. However, Pascoe believes it won’t be his last year in the blue-and-gold. “It was a freak accident suffered on holiday and he probably won’t get to play as many games as he would like to,” Pascoe said. “But if I know Dale he’ll keep playing until he can’t move anymore and he’s still extremely hungry.” The Hawks will hope for some payback when they bounce down against Rovers at 2.30pm at Greenough Oval on Saturday.