Peel Thunder’s Board has reappointed Cam Shepherd as the club’s senior coach for a further two years.

During Shepherd’s five-year tenure the Thunder, who first joined the competition in 1997,  made their first ever finals appearance in 2015 before going on to secure the club’s history making inaugural premiership in 2016 and have the chance to notch up a second consecutive flag on Sunday week.

“Cam has developed into an outstanding coach, rewarding the club with its first final appearance, first premiership and another Grand Final appearance in 2017,” Peel CEO John Ditchburn said.

“We are delighted to extend his tenure for a further two years.

“2017 saw seven players from Peel Thunder development programs make their league debut, which takes the total to 34 local products making their league debut over Cam’s tenure as senior coach.

“Cam has shown a passion for developing and promoting our local talent into league footballers over the past five years, and has shown a strong belief in the talent coming through our programs with the numbers of local players given the opportunity to play at league level.”

President Bob Ryan said the reappointment of Shepherd as senior coach for a further two seasons was a reflection of how highly regarded he is at Peel.

“We wish him and the team well for the future and, in particular, for the upcoming Grand Final.” Ryan said.

Shepherd, who is in his fifth year as senior coach at Peel, said he was delighted to have the opportunity to continue coaching Fremantle’s WAFL-aligned club.

“The relationship between Peel and Fremantle is really strong and the alignment is going from strength to strength,’’ Shepherd said.

“We are there to develop young players at both Peel and Fremantle to their full potential.

“Fremantle players are getting an opportunity to develop and become quality AFL players  and young Peel players are being given every opportunity to develop and play at the highest possible level, be it in the WAFL or the AFL.

“I’m really pleased that Peel and Fremantle believe that we can continue to help them achieve continued success.”