EFL: Doncaster reveals how it climbed from the lower rungs to Division 1

IT’S rise has nearly been unmatched in the 56-year history of the Eastern Football League, but Doncaster has revealed how it climbed from the lower rungs to Division 1 flag contender.

Doncaster celebrate its 2015 premiership. Picture: Stuart Milligan

IT’S been a near unmatched rise in the 56-year history of the Eastern Football League.

Doncaster was competing in Division 3 just a few years ago with an eye on becoming the premier club in Manningham.

“You had Doncaster East at the time as the standard Division 2 club, Donvale at the time was also Division 2, Templestowe was Division 3 so the area in itself had no one just grabbing the bull by the horns to be a Division 1 club,” Doncaster coach Andrew Tranquilli recalls of his first season in 2012.

Andrew Tranquilli is Doncaster’s longest serving coach. Picture: Hamish Blair

“I really believed with what the club had in resources that we should be striving to be a Division 1 club.”

Fast-forward to 2018 and the Sharks could be contending for three premierships in six years — a feat bettered only by Donvale’s three flags in five seasons in the 1990s.

Doncaster has more than matched it with the league’s heavyweights in its first two seasons in Division 1, qualifying for the top five in both years only to be knocked out of premiership contention in the elimination final.

But Sharks president Sean O’Gorman hesitated in calling the club’s rise a success.

“You’re not successful until you win a first division flag and that is the end goal,” O’Gorman said.

“We were always a good side in second division, we were never dominant, sometimes we’d make finals, other times we’d be fighting to avoid relegation.

Doncaster enjoys the 2013 Division 3 grand final win.

“It’s a lot of work over a decade that has gone into it, we haven’t got the biggest committee or the biggest supporter base but we have very passionate people.”

A five-year blueprint to reach the top tier was achieved ahead of schedule, climbing into Division 1 in 2016 after flags in 2013 and 2015.

Tranquilli’s first year saw Doncaster relegated to Division 3 after an injury-hit season, highlighting the need for the club to bolster its depth and add some polish.

Over the next few years, the likes of former AFL players Nathan Thompson, Aaron Fiora, Ben Johnson and Heath Scotland were added to fast-track the Sharks’ youth.

“We always only touched one or two (recruits) at the top end (each year) but built it deep at the bottom with the kids, and when I say kids, anywhere from 18 to 22,” Tranquilli said.

“That got us into a good shape for Division 1 and it really built a belief that our brand of footy was good enough.”

While the club has become the premier EFL club in Manningham, there remains work to be done if it wants to be a competition powerhouse.

Matt Shimmelbusch and Chris Annakis hoist the 2015 premiership cup. Picture: Stuart Milligan

“All we’ve done is survive two years in Division 1, we’ve tasted finals and does that make you successful not winning a premiership? Me as the coach says, ‘no’ but me as the non-coach says, ‘you have to acknowledge and say there’s been a few boxes ticked’,” Tranquilli said.

“What we’ve done is developed a culture and a place where we want our boys to 100 per cent enjoy themselves but also work hard to be the best they can.

“We need to make sure our junior program is strong — that’s a challenge in itself — but we need to make sure our recruiting strategy, because we are in a demographic where football doesn’t have a plethora of kids ... the strategy is to make sure the culture, environment and what we want to give the kids is a place they want to call Doncaster home.”