EFL 2019: Doncaster East living up to pre-season hype in the Eastern Football League

Doncaster East is displaying the form that had it touted as Division 1 premiership favourite on the eve of the Eastern Football League season after three crushing wins.

Doncaster East coach Steve Buckle. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Doncaster East is displaying the form that had it touted as Division 1 premiership favourite on the eve of the Eastern Football League season.

A Round 1 defeat has been followed by three crushing victories by an average of 82 points. The Lions’ percentage stands at 201.70 — nearly double that of the second best team.

Doncaster East withstood a first-half challenge from Park Orchards on Saturday to score a 40-point win at Zerbes Reserve.

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The Lions kicked six unanswered goals in the third quarter to set up the 15.14 (104) to 8.16 (64) win.

Decorated WAFL star Chris Phelan was the marquee signing at Doncaster East in the pre-season, joining ex-Carlton players Brock McLean and Simon White on a talent-laden list.

“We’ve got our own expectations on ourselves and we think we should have another successful year,” Doncaster East coach Steve Buckle said.

“We think we should be up there again towards the end of the season.

“I know there was external talk, especially from the East Ringwood coach (Marcus Buzaglo) trying to play it up that Doncaster East rate themselves and think they have the premiership in the bag and everyone else is playing for second.

“I don’t know where he has got that information because that’s not what we’re externally saying but internally we just go about our business.”

Doncaster East won last year’s Division 2 premiership but was not promoted due to the competition restructure.

Nick Batsanis has again been one of Doncaster East’s top performers this year. Picture: Stuart Milligan

“I think there’s a few guys that have got a point to prove because we didn’t go up (to Premier Division) last year,” Buckle said.

“We went into this season thinking we want to achieve the ultimate again and get what we rightfully won last year.”

Buckle said his side’s strength around the contest came to the fore after halftime against the Sharks.

“We found it pretty hard to break Park Orchards down, they brought some serious pressure and some serious heat in the opening half,” he said.

“(We) just weren’t smart with our ball use, we were second to the ball, they were getting their hands on it first but once we addressed that we were able to break the game open.

“Our bigger bodies should have been there for the entire game but they came to the fore in that third quarter and we used our strength around the contest.”

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