EFL 2019: 10 stories and predictions to watch during the Eastern Football League season
On the eve of the Eastern Football League season, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 stories and predictions to watch during 2019. Here’s how we view the season unfolding.
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On the eve of the Eastern Football League season, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 stories and predictions to watch during 2019.
Some clubs will be looking to break long finals and premiership droughts, while others will be hoping to avoid relegation.
Here’s how we think the season will unfold:
Is Marty Pask the man to lead Norwood back to finals?
Marty Pask has assembled a talented list as he prepares for his first season at Mullum Mullum Reserve with the Norsemen looking to make a return to finals.
Norwood has underachieved since its back-to-back grand final appearances in 2014 and 2015, often teasing its talents but being left to rue inconsistency.
Pask was an assistant at Vermont last year after being replaced as Balwyn coach midway through pre-season last year.
Former Melbourne Tigers academy squad member Daniel Sutcliffe will assume the No. 1 ruck mantle, former Noble Park full back Ryan Morrison will bolster the backline and Lachlan Kennedy (Ferntree Gully) and Darcy Fritsch (Coldstream) will support Leigh Williams in attack.
If Norwood is to build on its seventh-placed finish from last year, it will need to improve its record against the top five sides.
The Norsemen had a 0-7 record against the 2018 finalists, including three 10-plus goal defeats.
Tip: Norwood to make a return to finals.
Can Balwyn bounce back to finals?
Balwyn was hit hard by injury last year as its depth was severely tested, missing finals for the first time in 23 years.
The Tigers finished with a 10-8 record in 2018 and have looked to build their depth over the summer.
Former Sydney forward Xavier Richards is the headline recruit but Balwyn has based its recruiting drive largely on local footballers.
Premiership players John Milhuisen and Shaun MacDonald have also returned while dangerous forward Charlie Haley and classy midfielder Cameron Manuel shape as vital additions after missing parts of 2018 through injury.
But the perennial contender will need a blessed run with injury and there are question marks that Balwyn relies too heavily on its older brigade of players.
Tip: Balwyn to again miss the top five.
Will Doncaster East live up to the hype?
Doncaster East enters the Division 1 campaign as the team to beat after a 10-goal win in last season’s grand final.
But the Lions were not promoted as part of the EFL restructure, leaving them in the second tier for another season.
Doncaster East’s back-to-back premiership claims took a hit when Sam Rowe signed with St Kilda.
It was hoped the former Carlton defender could kick “70, 80 to 100” goals in the Eastern Football League this year when he became the third ex-Blue to sign at Zerbes Reserve.
But it was announced last month Rowe would be joining St Kilda under the AFL’s pre-season supplementary selection period (SSP) rules.
Decorated WAFL midfielder Chris Phelan was another major signing for the Lions after winning three premierships and two best and fairests at Subiaco over a 168-game career.
The Lions have left no doubt as to their aim: they want to crack the EFL’s top tier for the first time in their 52-year history.
Tip: Doncaster East finished last year with a 15-3 record and again expect the Lions to be a flag contender.
How will South Croydon manage its player points?
They might start calling them the South Croydon Hawks in 2019.
The Bulldogs have added a quartet of Box Hill Hawks players over the off-season, recruiting Chris Jones, Max Warren, Nick Evans and Jordan Walker in their push for a third consecutive grand final appearance.
Jones, Evan and Walker have previously been aligned to South Croydon but will be full-time this year.
Warren won Box Hill’s best and fairest in 2017 but missed last season’s premiership through injury.
He arrives as a five-point player, while Jones (four), Evans (four) and Walker (three) will also chew into the cap of 47 points.
It will again leave South Croydon having to juggle its player points. The Bulldogs last year had to let go of Anthony Brolic (Rowville) and Stuart Horner (Norwood) because of their points squeeze.
“We’ll be tight again, as we were this year,” coach Luke McCormick said of the player points headaches in November.
“Everyone else drops one — obviously everyone who played last year — but again it will still be fairly tight if we had our best side playing.”
Tip: South Croydon will again be a flag contender but how it fits its best team in the confines of the points cap remains to be seen.
Will East Burwood end its premiership drought?
East Burwood could not be better placed to end its flag drought.
The Rams were considered by some to be the best side in Division 4 last season, only to bow out in the preliminary final.
East Burwood last won a flag in 2000 in its Division 1 glory days, and is considered by rivals as the favourite for this season’s flag after ending a 5097-day wait for a finals win last year.
The path has been cleared for the Rams to have a shot at their first flag since 2000, with last year’s grand finalists — Whitehorse Pioneers and Glen Waverley Hawks — promoted to Division 3 as part of the competition restructure.
Brothers Matthew and Anthony Mariani headline the additions at East Burwood, returning to the club after stints at Templestowe and Whitehorse Pioneers.
The young Vermont trio of Max Healey, Tom Rennie and Kodey Logan have all crossed to East Burwood and are in-line for senior opportunities this year.
Tip: East Burwood to win its 13th EFL premiership.
Can Nunawading ends its losing streak?
Nunawading is on the verge of the EFL’s longest losing streak.
The Lions’ last win came in Round 10, 2015 and their losing streak stands at 62 games, five short of the record held by Surrey Park.
Nunawading’s best chance to score its first win in nearly four years might come in Round 7 when it meets league newcomers Croydon North-Mount Lilydale Old Collegians.
MLOC finished eighth on the VAFA Division 4 ladder in 2018 with a 5-13 record before merging with Croydon North over the summer.
Recruits Phil and Caleb Schulz (Mt Waverley), Brad Reiner (Sandown), Matthew Hume (University of Queensland), brothers Josh and Matt Smith (Boort) and Michael Van Rooy (Pennant Hills) will each boost Nunawading’s prospects of a breakthrough victory in 2019.
Tip: Nunawading to end its losing streak in Round 7 against Croydon North/MLOC.
Will Warrandyte and South Belgrave be the top dogs in Division 3?
Warrandyte and South Belgrave have recruited heavily during the off-season and will be expecting to make a return to finals.
Ex-Melbourne captain Jack Grimes is the headline addition at the Bloods, joining brothers Tom (Hurstbridge) and Nathan (Corryong) at the Division 3 club.
Two-time Hurstbridge premiership player Sean Jellie is also among the recruits at Warrandyte.
South Belgrave is also expecting to climb up the ladder this year after just 13 wins in the previous three seasons.
The Upper Ferntree Gully pair of Mike Smith and Tim Riseley are among the additions at the Saints.
Knox duo Declan Forbes, who played in the Falcons’ 2017 flag win, and Adam Stein will also bring Division 1 experience after crossing to the Saints.
Narre Warren triple premiership player Brody Connelly and veteran Leigh Odermatt will also boost the options in attack.
Tip: Warrandyte and South Belgrave to meet in the Division 3 grand final.
Can East Ringwood make a long-awaited return to finals?
East Ringwood was demoted out of the league’s top-tier for the first time since 1973 last year as part of the competition restructure.
The Roos have not made finals since 2008 but have designs on a top-five berth in 2019.
Former captain Matt Sharpe and Adam Gibson return, while South Croydon premiership midfielder Josh Allison has joined East Ringwood.
Sharpe has spent the past five years with the Waverley Blues, while Gibson played 59 games in four years at Norwood.
But a swag of its VFL contingent have departed to continue playing top-tier suburban football.
Tristan Tweedie (Norwood), Alex Urban (Balwyn), Adam Swierzbiolek (Macleod) and Jack Sandric (Glenroy) are among the omissions.
Lively small forward Jayden Battaglene has also relocated to Queensland for work.
Tip: East Ringwood to finish in the top five.
Can Montrose survive a relegation drop?
Red flags were raised when Montrose put a call out for players earlier this month, but the club quickly dismissed concerns about pre-season numbers.
The Demons will rely on a young group of recruits if they are to remain in Premier division in 2020.
Montrose has finished between seventh and 11th in the past four years and its 13 defeats last year were at an average of 66 points.
Vice-captain Billy Schilling has departed to North Ringwood and 2013 premiership captain Sam Goodman has retired.
Kieran Urquhart (Chirnside Park), Tyler Birchall (Chirnside Park), Shaun McMillan (Park Orchards), Beau Tennant (Mooroolbark) and Eastern Ranges-listed Bailey White (Mooroolbark) are among the additions.
But out of that quartet, only Urquhart has senior experience.
Tip: Montrose to be relegated to Division 1.
Can Ringwood atone for last year’s grand final disaster?
Ringwood let a golden opportunity slip last year when it suffered its first defeat of the season in the grand final.
The Redbacks reached the preliminary final in 2016, made a straight-sets finals exit the following season before suffering their first blemish of the 2018 season on the last day of the campaign when it was stunned by Boronia.
It remains to be seen if that defeat will fuel Ringwood this season, but expect the Redbacks to again be in premiership contention.
However, Ringwood will have to do it without its best two players.
Two-time Division 3 league best and fairest Trent Farmer will spend the year travelling, and ruckman Ben Power will also be overseas.
However, there are hopes Farmer will return in the second half of the season.
Daniel Atwell (Yackandandah) and Mitchell Jacobs (Kilsyth) are two other departures from last year’s grand final side, with the group united in its quest to win the club’s first premiership since 2005.
Tip: Ringwood to overcome its finals demons and win its fourth EFL premiership.
Dual flag Cat, ex-Pies livewire light up local footy carnival
A two-time premiership Cat and a ex-Collingwood favourite were in action as players from across the state locked horns in a First Nations sports carnival.
‘Going for some elite talent’: AFL utility joins Castlemaine
Castlemaine has already signed two star recruits, including a former GWS Giant, but coach Michael Hartley feels he is “talking to most of Victoria” to add more names.