WHEN Harvey Bulls league coach Paul Fimmano took the reins of the club at the start of the season, he had one objective in mind – to create an enjoyable club environment for players.
Now, 18 games into his tenure, he is the most successful head coach in the Harvey Bulls South West Football League history.
The team has posted a club record 11 wins this season and has claimed their inaugural finals berth on the back of a five game winning streak.
“There is an air of excitement around the club – it’s really good to be a part of that,” Fimmano said.
“Supporters and players are really enjoying themselves and that’s what it’s all about.”
But Fimmano is not ready to get ahead of himself, and said the focus is squarely on their elimination final clash with Augusta-Margaret River this weekend.
“There is an air of excitement around the club – it’s really good to be a part of that,”
“We enjoy every win and soak it up, but the next day our focus turns to the next game,” he said.
“We know the job’s not done.”
Fimmano said his side would take on AMR the same way they had taken on every team this season.
“We’re going to go out and play a Harvey Bulls brand of footy,” he said.
“They have some really talented players so we will try to minimise their impact on the game, while getting our own players involved at the same time.
“We’ve been playing finals for the last five weeks in do-or-die matches, we need to keep going out and doing what we’re doing.”
The league side’s outbreak into being a competitive team has come off a number of years spent at the bottom of the ladder.
After entering the competition in 2009, the Bulls had never posted a double-digit winning record until this season, with their highest win tally being seven.
“We’ve worked really hard to create an environment where players actually want to play football,”
Fimmano said the atmosphere surrounding the club was a key contributor to its 2015 success.
“We’ve worked really hard to create an environment where players actually want to play football,” he said.
“Our players have been terrific this season and we’ve had a great response from all of them.
“When I stepped into the role the club didn’t have any huge expectations of me, they just wanted to build up our local base and create a hospitable club.”
Another focus for Fimmano was building the right team base and balancing out locals and recruits.
“We started with three basic elements when it came to on-field performances – fitness, skills and recruits,” he said.
“We have fewer recruits this year than in recent times, but we feel like we get a bit more production out of them.
“Our locals have really stepped up.”
The Bulls will tackle AMR in an elimination final at Payne Park this Sunday.
