Julian Farkas has had a very interesting football journey over the past 25-plus years. From school football to the Willunga Football Club, South Adelaide Football Club and then to Canberra where he played with the Eastlake Demons. The move to Canberra opened up a chance for Julian to follow his passion to work in the football ‘industry’ and get involved in coaching and junior development as he coached the Eastlake U/18’s and later the ACT U/16 team.

Returning to Adelaide in 2009, ‘Jules’ worked with the Port Adelaide Football Club as Talent Development Manager until 2013 before moving back to South Adelaide as Zone Development Officer. Since 2016 Farkas has worked at the SANFL as the Talent Pathways Manager and has coached the SA U/16 team since 2018. 2018 would prove to be a great year as the Croweaters won the U/16 national championship with Farkas being named coach of the All-Australian team.

So as you can see it's been a long and successful football journey for Farkas. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented some new challenges with no games being played and an unsure landscape for young players looking to come through the elite SANFL pathways. Hopefully things will return to ‘normal’ soon and Farkas can get back to identifying, developing and coaching the fantastic young football talent we have in this state.

Playing career

Willunga:115 Senior games

South Adelaide: 80 League & Reserves games

Eastlake: 90 Senior games

1996 All-Australian Country team

1996 & 1998 South Australian State Country Representative

1998 Willunga Football Club 'A' grade Premiership

2000 Captain of the GSFL - winners of the Lovelock Shield

2000 Best & Fairest Willunga Football Club

2002 AFL Canberra Team of the year

2002, 06, 07 AFL Canberra Representative team

2006-07 Eastlake Football Club Leading Goal Kicker

Coaching career

2003 Eastlake Football Club U/18

2008 ACT U/16 State Team

2013 Port Adelaide Football Club U/18

2014-15 South Adelaide Football Club U/16

2018-Current South Australia U/16 State Team

2018 All Australian U/16 Coach

How did you first get involved in Football?

I was very interested in sports as a kid and our back fence was shared with the primary school oval.  I played for the primary school initially as there was no Auskick back in those days.

Who have been the biggest influences on your Football career?

My dad initially was very influential even though he never played a game but he showed me the basics and then let my coaches coach which was great.  The late Leith Renney who coached me at Willunga in juniors. Ken Applegarth who coached me at under 17’s, under 19’s, Reserves and League, and in recent years in a management and coaching influence it has been Tony Bamford. But the biggest influence on me as a player and coach is Nathan Clarke who was a young playing coach at Eastlake and we both worked at the footy club so had lots of time to influence each other.

What did you enjoy most about playing for Willunga?

The people and the feeling of community are the things that stand out.

What was the transition to league football with South Adelaide like and who were some of your toughest opponents?

It was a progression as I was involved in the junior programs at South but also played a fair bit of ‘A’ Grade footy in the Great Southern Football League (GSFL) which gave me a great grounding for the much tougher SANFL competition. Randall Follett and Jamie Brown were a couple of the best players I played with and against in the GSFL.

What are some of your favourite sporting memories?

Obviously team success. Premierships at any level are special, even the ‘B’ Grade cricket premiership I played in at Old Scotch. Representative success was always special. The representative trips were fantastic to be involved with because the best players were involved and the vast majority are outstanding blokes that just wore different colours than you so when you were on the same team for a short but concentrated period with little other distractions (due to usually travelling away), it made for some fond memories.

What’s the best thing about coaching elite junior talent and what are some of the biggest challenges?

You get to coach not only good footballers but great young men.  Ensuring that the best talent is captured and allowing them to be showcased with the best opportunity to succeed.  Also telling a great kid and a good player that he hasn’t made the team is difficult.

You’ve been involved in the SANFL for over a decade in junior development, coaching and talent pathway management, what have been some of the biggest changes in that time?

Just the sheer scope of the industry and the amount of people involved. At a SANFL club you have approximately 25 zoned clubs. At the SANFL we have eight SANFL clubs and there are 18 AFL clubs which have recruiting departments, development staff, etc...The AFL talent department is an enormous beast which makes it a challenge to work with so many stakeholders. This is also the reason why it’s a great industry to work in because of the people.

How do you see the future of Football in the Fleurieu region?

With a growing population hopefully it booms as we have seen the explosion of female football across the nation.  However we are dealing with a green space issue which is affecting sports everywhere.  The Covid pandemic has shown us all just how important sport is to our health and wellbeing, both physically and mentally but also socially so I very much hope we see an increase in participation off the back of this current situation.