The newly-formed South East Football Netball League begins in earnest this Saturday with the nine-team competition setting the foundation for the future of football in the region. The News’s David Nagel gets the coaches’ thoughts on the season ahead.
BEACONSFIELD
2014: Third-Premiers
Key ins: Chris Worner (Southern), Tom Wilkinson (Peninsula), Justin Olsson (Eastern).
Clint Evans says: “It’s going to be a really tough year, a tough year to step up from where we were last season. Sides are going to be coming for us and we just need to make sure we’re up for it or we’ll fall back into the pack.”
BERWICK
2014: Fifth
Key ins: Ash Smith (West Coast Eagles), Ben Kearns (Morwell), Michael Riseley (NEAFL).
Rhys Nisbet says: “All of our recruits are experienced and have played at a higher level and bring bigger bodies into the side. We won’t be so predictable; we’ll throw things around and have plenty of options going forward.”
CRANBOURNE
2014: Runner-up
Key ins: Chase Struth (Ballarat), Nick Morrish (Southern).
Simon Goosey says: “We don’t want to rely on individuals, we want to rely on our total team game so if a player is out another can come in and play his role. Footy’s gone past the days of relying on just a few, and that’s at any level.”
DOVETON
2014: Seventh
Key ins: Russell Gabriel (Frankston), Jarrad Boumann (Wangaratta Rovers), Sam Raru (Port Melbourne).
Shannon Henwood says: “What Beaconsfield did last year was show what can be done if everyone plays their role for the team. That’s what good teams do and we’ve used Beaconsfield as an example of that all the way through the pre-season.”
HAMPTON PARK
2014: Wooden spoon
Key ins: Andrew Shipp (coaching staff), Nathan Carver (Noble Park), Brad Williams (Queensland).
Matt O’Neil says: “We just weren’t fit enough last year so we started training in October. Last year was all about reducing margins but this year we expect to be a lot more competitive and hopefully surprise a few sides.”
NARRE WARREN
2014: Top
Key ins: George Angelopoulos (Karingal), Jarrod Anderson, Andrew Hunter.
Chris Toner says: “It was all about attitude last year, we thought we had it but we let things go that went undetected and we weren’t pushing as hard as what we were in the past. We’re very, very hungry at the moment.”
PAKENHAM
2014: Fourth
Key ins: Damien Holmes (Kilcunda-Bass), Beau Wheeler (Wangaratta).
Steve O’Bryan says: “I think our running game is a massive strength and can make us one of the best sides in the competition. We had some good results last year that has built our belief that we can beat anyone on our day.”
ROC
2014: Sixth
Key ins: Sean Roach (Mooroolbark), Matthew Ford (Mooroolbark), Chris Larosa (Warragul Industrials).
Brad Jones says: “Our best football is played being fast, being hard and being clean. We have to break the lines, create overlap and take the game on. We’ve got the leg speed and ball movement to do that.”
TOORADIN
2014: Eighth
Key ins: Ben Hallas (AFL Cairns), Ryan White (AFL Mount Isa), Kyle Van Der Pluym (Eastern).
Lachlan Gillespie says: “It’s almost boring but the best way for us to move forward is too play to our structures and our game plan. It sounds simple but if we can do that for four quarters instead of two I think we’ll be very hard to beat.”
2015 LADDER PREDICTION
TEAM PTS
NARRE WARREN 68
CRANBOURNE 56
BERWICK 52
BEACONSFIELD 40
DOVETON 40
ROC 40
PAKENHAM 24
TOORADIN 24
HAMPTON PARK 12
This week’s games (April 11): Beaconsfield v Berwick, Cranbourne v Narre Warren, Pakenham v Hampton Park, Doveton v Tooradin, ROC- Bye.
