EDFL 2020: East Keilor coach sees comparisons with WRFL power Deer Park
East Keilor will enter the 2020 campaign as a red-hot premiership favourite after a busy off-season and its impressive work on the training track has drawn praise from coach Pat Christofi.
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East Keilor boss Pat Christofi has given his players the ultimate compliment, likening their slick work on the training track during pre-season to powerhouse Deer Park.
Christofi was a senior assistant and reserves coach at the all-conquering Lions before taking over the top job at the EDFL Division 1 outfit last year.
Deer Park has claimed the past seven WRFL premierships – a suburban record in a top-flight competition – and Christofi said the influx of top-quality talent at the Cougars over summer had lifted training standards significantly.
Last year’s Division 1 runner-up will enter the 2020 campaign as a red-hot premiership favourite after a fruitful off-season.
“It’s the first time in a year that I’ve actually felt like I’m back at Deer Park,” Christofi said.
“You go to training and you think, ‘Wow, this reminds me of the last seven, eight years that I was involved there.’
“That’s the best way I can describe it. I feel like I’m around a premier club.”
Midfielder Marc Lock, who made one appearance for Gold Coast in the AFL in 2011, has signed on with East Keilor.
Frankston Pines champion Paul Scanlon has also arrived, along with his premiership teammate and former Pines captain Tim Bongetti.
The Cougars have also secured former Hillside skipper Victor Micallef, who shared the Hutchison Medal — awarded to the best-and-fairest player in EDFL Division 1 — with his brother James in 2016.
Brandon Coletta, rated among the competition’s leading forwards, has also crossed from Hillside, while Tim Atikins (Yarroweyah), Kevin Klix (Deer Park), Lachlan Calder (St Albans), Mickey Nicholls (Old Geelong), Josh Mascara, Lee Santoro (both Bundoora) and Rusiate Komiaitai (Strathmore) are among the other new faces.
Jordan Madden, who has moved to WA due to a two-year work contract, is the only departure of note.
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“The guys who have come in have added a different dimension to our footy club,” Christofi said.
“You wouldn’t know that half the senior group is new.
“We’re all one and they’ve fitted in perfectly. It’s about the atmosphere you create for them.”
Christofi said Vince Schiavello, Lachlan Pettigrove, Dion Hill, Josh Grabowski, Ben Nicholl and young gun Lucas Watson had been standouts at training.
“The guys who played last year, a lot of the one-pointers and the young fellas, they’ve come back so much better this year,” he said.
“Persevering with them for a year has made them better players and their workrate has lifted, which is great.”
Star defender Ash Arrowsmith is also showing no signs of slowing down.
“I think he’s found another leg,” Christofi said of the former coach.
“He’s a genuine superstar of the competition and he’s a much-loved figure at EK.”
The Cougars will face promoted Sunbury Kangaroos in Round 1 on April 4.
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