EFL 2018: The Eastern Football League clubs looking to end long finals and premiership droughts this year
SOME are looking for their first taste of top-tier success, others are hoping to end long premiership and finals droughts. Here are the Eastern Football League clubs dreaming of September success.
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SOME clubs are looking for their first taste of top-tier success, while others are hoping to end long premiership and finals droughts.
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Here are some of the Eastern Football League clubs dreaming of securing some elusive silverware.
Division 1
Doncaster
Doncaster has confirmed itself as a legitimate premiership contender in 2018 with home and away wins over South Croydon and Vermont.
However, the Sharks have never recorded a Division 1 finals win.
Andrew Tranquilli’s side has finished in the top five in the past two years after its 2015 Division 2 premiership but is a genuine threat this September.
Doncaster football manager Paul Valkenberg: “It’s something we’ve been working towards for a long time. We’ve only been up in Division 1, I think this is our third year, played finals every year but haven’t won one but we’re in with a live chance.”
Rowville
Like Doncaster, Rowville has never won a Division 1 final.
Injuries hit the Hawks hard in 2017, resulting in a disappointing five-win season after a top-three finish in 2016.
Rowville will enter the finals series with a 4-4 record against top-five sides but will need to win four finals to taste the ultimate success under first-year coach John Brown.
Rowville president Paul Mynott: “It’s the ultimate goal for the club. Sixteen years ago we were in fourth division, or actually 15 years ago, so to come this far in such a short period of time and to have an opportunity to win a Division 1 flag would be just an unbelievable achievement.”
Blackburn
Things were looking shaky for Blackburn at 0-2, leaving first-year Burners coach Brendan Allen with some soul searching to do leading into the club’s Round 3 clash against Rowville.
But Blackburn has responded beautifully to the slow start as it searches for its first Division 1 premiership.
The Burners made the Division 1 decider in 1968, 1969 and 1975 but came up short on each occasion.
Blackburn president Matt Breen: “It’s always been a club that’s grown since 2002 … it would probably help the club’s brand continue on being a club that provides for the community.”
Division 2
Doncaster East
A perennial contender in Division 2, Doncaster East will enter this year’s finals series as the team to beat in pursuit of its first premiership since 2007.
The Lions have been runners-up in two of the previous three seasons and will be hoping to overcome their grand final jitters if they advance to the decider this year.
Doncaster East has added just two premierships to the trophy cabinet in the past 51 years.
Doncaster East president Michael Gordon: “It’s obviously something we have been striving for, if you look at the last five years and the recruiting we’ve done. It’ll be our third crack if we were to make it to a grand final and it’s probably going to be very important that we can succeed.”
Division 3
Ringwood
Ringwood last tasted the ultimate success in 2005 in Division 2 and enters this year’s finals series with a perfect 18-0 record.
Not much has gone wrong for the Redbacks in 2018 under first-year coach Brett Rowe, but his side may need to overcome some mental demons if it is to convert its regular-season dominance into premiership glory.
Ringwood has bowed out of the flag race in the preliminary final the past two years and opposition sides will fancy their chances if they can put the Redbacks under pressure when the September spotlight is shining brightly.
Ringwood president Steve Bricknell: “It would mean absolutely everything, not just for our players but for our supporters, for our committee that has stuck fat. We’ve won one in 40 years and we dropped down to third division only eight years ago and we’ve just slowly built up.”
Boronia
Boronia enters finals just two premierships in the past 40 years, the last coming in 2000.
Former Wantirna South coach Matt Clark took on the role in the off-season, steering his young group back into finals and giving them a chance of ending an 18-year drought.
The Hawks have had just four finals victories since their last premiership.
Boronia coach Matt Clark: “I’m sure it would mean a hell of a lot to the club and to the current playing list. We’re really focused on us creating our own history, we know there has been a big gap between the last flag and where we are today. I think the whole group was really gutted by not making finals last year and that’s come up many times from the players.”
Scoresby
Traditionally a proud Division 1 club, Scoresby made consecutive top-tier deciders in 2010 and 2011 but suffered the dreaded double relegation in 2014 and 2015.
The Magpies have won only two premierships in the past 40 years, the last coming in 2006 and their most recent finals victory being the 2011 preliminary final.
The third tier is a far cry from the glory days but its rise to a flag fancy is a testament to the rebuild at Scoresby Recreation Reserve.
Division 4
Glen Waverley Hawks
Glen Waverley Hawks qualified on top of the table after a 16-game winning streak to set themselves as the benchmark of the competition.
The Hawks have never won a senior premiership since being established in 2005.
Glen Waverley suffered an agonising extra-time grand final defeat in 2011 before being hammered by North Ringwood in 2012 by 137 points.
Glen Waverley Hawks president Steve Cornell: “When they started the senior club in 2005, that was the aim … there would be a lot of people overcome with emotion I think if it was to happen.”
East Burwood
The last man to take East Burwood to premiership glory? St Kilda coach Alan Richardson.
The Rams tasted the ultimate success in 1999 and 2000 under Richardson but suffered three relegations since 2013 to fall to Division 4. Their last finals victory was in 2004.
With both grand finalists to maintain their position in the fourth tier next year as part of the EFL restructure, East Burwood needs to make the decider to avoid becoming the first club to have featured in all five divisions.
East Burwood coach Stuart Wynd: “It would be a good reward for the club’s hard work because there has been a lot of people at the footy club, especially in the last five to six years, that have worked really hard with very little success.”
Forest Hill
Forest Hill holds the longest current flag drought in the league, last experiencing grand final success in 1984.
The Zebras have come mighty close in the past two years to adding a second premiership trophy to the cabinet, leading in the last quarter of 2016 and 2017 deciders only to fall just short.
But, after finishing outside the top two, Forest Hill will need to win three consecutive finals to send coach Martin Stillman out on a winning note.
Forest Hill president Wayne Coleman: “It would mean everything to the club, it has been a bloody long time. For a lot of people who have put in a lot of work over the years, it would be a just reward for it all.”
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