By DAVID NAGEL
A TANTALISING mix of youth and experience will combine as the South East Football Netball League (SEFNL) attempts to claim a top-10 ranking in the state against Sunraysia at Casey Fields on Saturday.
Formerly known as the Casey Cardinia Football League, the SEFNL clubs will attempt to keep intact an unblemished record that dates back to 2012. Given an initial ranking of 17 by the VCFL, the SEFNL side has progressed to number 12 in the state with wins over the Nepean, Wimmera and Bellarine leagues in the last three years.
Sunraysia was ranked number seven in 2013, but losses to the Hampden and Murray leagues in the last two years has seen them drop to a ranking of 11.
Sunraysia has some serious talent, with former AFL players Andrew Lovett and Shannon Motlop joining Jason Eagle, who kicked 72 goals for South Croydon in the Eastern Football League last year, on the trip south.
SEFNL coach, and Pakenham’s 2009 premiership mentor, Michael ‘Jock’ Holland, is looking forward to the challenge.
“We hope they bring their best side because we want to test ourselves against the best,” Holland said.
“It’s a massive challenge for us, but we think we can go higher up the ranking system, but we know we’ve got an opposition who think the same. We’re going to have to play our best footy, and hopefully our best footy is good enough.”
This year’s squad features a new and emerging crop of young talent that will hopefully engender that spirit, created by the likes of Holland, Narre Warren’s Michael Collins, and Cranbourne’s Marc Holt, and carry it into the future.
Names like Pakenham’s Troy Toussaint and Jake Smith, Narre Warren’s Matt Lee and Dylan Quirk, and Beaconsfield brothers Damien and Daniel Johnston are one to keep an eye.
“We’ve had a core group for some time now, and some new recruits to the league, but the young blokes just bring that something special to the table,” Holland said.
“I’m all for playing kids, whether it’s at club level or interleague level, I think they bring a different dynamic to a game, and they excite.”
Holt, who has kicked a century of goals in his last three years for Cranbourne, will be looking to keep his remarkable interleague record intact, having won the last two VCFL Medals, bagging seven against Wimmera and producing a magnificent eight-goal haul against Bellarine last year.
Holland thinks Doveton’s Jarrad Boumann and Cranbourne’s Luke Bee-Hugo could be others worth watching on the weekend.
“It’s great to see (Jarrad) Boumann committed to it and I reckon he could be our smoky and really light the game up,” Holland said.
“And I really rate Luke, I think in the last 18 months he’s really come on, he brings a real X-factor to Cranbourne and I think he can bring a real X-factor to us. When he opens up he’s got some real genuine pace, real genuine pace, and he’s very hard to stop.”
The game starts at 2pm.
