Division 4 2016 preview

By Gav Southern

With cricket season, summer and daylight saving finished, this can only mean footy’s back! We would all be content each team has completed their pre-seasons, put the hard yards in, primed for an exciting year. After many rumours swirling about South Mornington/St. Francis Xavier, the competition has settled into a nine-team competition. I believe overall, this will suit everyone with a “play everyone twice” fixture with two byes. Gone are premiers Canterbury and Parkside and we welcome back Eley Park after two years in Division 3. Before Round 1 gets underway, we rub the crystal ball to see what it says.

Scribe Predictions

1st – Westbourne

After a big 2015 season going 14-2, then going out in straight sets in their finals campaign, the Warriors would have learnt from this and would most certainly have their eye on the prize. Getting strong numbers on the pre-season track and a number of strong recruits, coach Roger Hand could have all the pieces of the puzzle.

2nd – Eley Park

The Sharks won’t be happy to be back in Div 4 but they too will be eyeing the prize which eluded them in 2013. Pre-season reports from Whitehorse Reserve are they haven’t missed a beat. Practice matches against UHS-VU and Albert Park showed they’re still capable of playing Div 3. After an injury depleted year, their returning players will be like new recruits. The Sharks lost a couple of really important players such as Declan Mitchell, Chris Marsiglio and Tim Miller but their recruits from the upper VAFA Divisions and Chris Munro from AFL Sydney will impress.

3rd – Point Cook 

Another side on the up will be the Doggies again. Although they don’t appear to have recruited many, they have a junior club to feed from which is a luxury in Div 4. The loss of Hayden Barker to Westbourne will hurt. Encouraging practise matches against Glen Eira and Spotswood, the Doggies are primed and intent on climbing the ladder.

4th – Box Hill North 

Keen to build on the their first finals appearance in 10 years, they have retained their players and have gone on a massive recruiting spree getting over 20+ players from other Clubs. We don’t know how they’ve done it but I’m sure the lower sides would love to know their recruiting secrets. Led again by the evergreen Daniel Penny, “Bocky” will need even more share of their goal-kickers to go the next step. Every game needs to count.

5th – North Brunswick 

After going 5-1 before making the finals by the skin of their teeth (8-8), their upset victory over Canterbury in the semi-final capped off an improved but inconsistent year. The Bulls have also gone on a recruiting drive as they enjoyed September action. Challenging practice matches against Parkside and Westbourne show they want to continue to improve.

6th – Mt. Lilydale

With no website and next to nil social media, the Rams could be the danger team of 2016. Last year, they boasted victories over Point Cook and North Brunswick and proved they are capable of anything. A plethora of EFL recruits over the summer, 2016 could be there year to climb up further the ladder.

7^th– Manningham
Last year the Cobras beat all the sides below them and snatched a victory over North Brunswick. Moving forward, the major news has been the appointment of Kead Beauliv as senior coach. Their main concern will be to get a consistent team on the park each week. Manningham gave a lot of players a run in the seniors, which reflected their inconsistency and only goal kicker, Christopher Jolly, was the only player to play every game. Winning five out of 16 games last year but finishing 101% pts for/against suggest they are capable of better.

8th – Masala 

In the off-season you could not help but see Masala. Whether it be on the Footy Show, reporting about their new facilities or “Spicy Footy”, their recruiting drive. It seemed to be everywhere. With no shortage of players, Masala will again look to make teams take notice. With two wins last year (South Mornington and Chaddy), the battle for the wooden spoon will again be a two horse race with Chadstone. A pleasing practice game against SFL Div 3 premiers, Black Rock, Masala will very intent on no longer being easybeats

9th – Chadstone

Player retention has been the focus for the Synners every year and it hardly ever happens. Majority of the players are coming back but Chadstone has also done well on the recruiting front. Whilst the main story over the pre-season was a potential women’s footy side, that idea has been shelved for 2017. What did fly under the radar was the appointment of new senior coach, Jason Cotsis, a former senior player and Reserves B&F. Jason knows what he’s up against and is preparing the guys well. After an encouraging pre-season and a practice run against Dandenong, the Synners need buy-in and they need it now. Or maybe Round 2 after the bye.

PREVIEW

With just the four games to be played week to week, there will be a lot of unknown quantities out there. To snatch a victory this week will set-up your season. To the games for this week: Masla host North Brunswick at WJ Turner Reserve. Although we have pumped up all the sides, North Brunswick are expected to run out easy winners here. Point Cook will be travelling to Elgar Park to take on Box Hill North, which is going to earn this year’s first match of the round. This will be a coin toss. It’s landed on heads. Box Hill North JUST. Manningham to host Westbourne at Koonung Reserve. Again, a match with unknown quantities. Will tip based on last year’s form; Westbourne. I’ll be heading down to Whitehorse Reserve to check out Eley Park and Mt. Lilydale. I’ll be interested to see Mt. Lilydales’ improvement and see what the Sharks have in store for the rest of the league; Eley Park. Chadstone has the bye, will move to 5th on the ladder and have the extra week to prepare and host Westbourne.