EFL 2019: Rowville starts Eastern Football League season 2-0 after disposing of North Ringwood and South Croydon
Rowville coach John Brown has heaped praise on the club’s depth after two impressive wins to start the Eastern Football League season.
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Rowville coach John Brown has heaped praise on the club’s depth after two impressive wins to start the Eastern Football League season.
The Hawks have been missing some key personnel in the opening two rounds but have underlined the quality of their list to start the Premier division campaign 2-0.
Rowville disposed of North Ringwood in Round 1 by 100 points before putting the league on notice with a commanding 63-point win over an injury-hit South Croydon — the Bulldogs’ biggest loss since the 2017 semi-final.
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Reigning best and fairests Jackson McDonald and Matthew Traynor, Steve Georgiou and Nikolas Schoenmakers were each missing from the Round 2 triumph.
Brown, in his second season at Seebeck Oval, said the club had covered its missing personnel through emerging talent at the club.
“Last year we were able to introduce a lot of our young players into the style of play we wanted them to play and they had some senior opportunities due to some injuries,” Brown said.
“It wasn’t just through good fortune, they certainly earned their opportunities but going into a second pre-season, we’ve got this young talent coming through the club and we’ve been able to recruit where we had some gaps in our list.”
Former Box Hill Hawks pair Anthony Brolic and Aaron Bond have both been integral through the midfield, while Ziggie Alwan has kicked nine goals in the first two games.
Brolic and Bond have both received mentions in the best players to start the season.
Brolic was named in the VFL Team of the Year in 2017 and played in Box Hill’s premiership last season.
“Brolic has had a significant impact on our playing group, not only talent but his leadership and quality of the quality of football he’s been exposed to, he’s been able to bring that back to the group,” Brown said.
“Aaron Bond — we missed him for the first nine weeks last year … having him out there right from the start this year has been a huge positive for the playing group.”
Brown said the club was seeing the benefits of another strong pre-season under his watch.
“What we’re starting to see is the players are starting to understand the game style and structurally understand and have that awareness,” he said.
“We’re starting to see the fruits of two pre-seasons and the way we want them to play.”
Rowville meets Doncaster at Schramms Reserve in Round 3.
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