EFNL 2025: How Mitcham can turn winless Premier Division start around

The Tigers have started life in Eastern’s top division winless from four matches. Premiership coach Neil Winterton opens up on where his team must improve ...

Mitcham coach Neil Winterton. Picture : George Salpigtidis

A WINLESS opening month to start life in the Eastern league’s top division.

Mitcham plummeted to 0-4 on Saturday following its 30-point loss to Noble Park – but senior coach Neil Winterton says his players simply must become more consistent to keep pace with the competition’s heavy-hitters.

“I think we’ve shown certainly in patches that we’ve been able to mix it with all the teams we’ve played so far,” Winterton said.

“We were in front for a large percentage of the day against Vermont, we had some good patches against East Ringwood, and even Balwyn.”

The club returned to the league’s top-flight for the first time since 2006 following a second consecutive Division 1 premiership – and Winterton says the difference has been vast.

“The difference between Premier Division and Division 1 is you could get away with playing patches last year – but this year, you can’t,” he said.

“You can’t give a side a start and try to run them down – we just don’t have the firepower to do that.

“The old cliché, we need to play as close as we can four quarters of footy to give ourselves a chance. We just haven’t been able to do that the last two weeks which has been disappointing.”

Spearhead Jake Parente alongside fellow premiership names Nick and Jackson Hallo have stepped away this season – but Winterton refused to blame the loss of personnel for his side’s slow start.

“The reality is, we’ve got what we’ve got, and what we’ve got is good enough to compete … we’ve just got to compete on a more consistent basis,” he said.

Meanwhile, captain Jesse Uren and ruckman Danny Baglava have impressed the coach in the club’s jump into Premier Division.

“A fair bit of attention has gone into him (Uren) from the opposition as well, but he’s been really good for us,” Winterton said.

“Danny Baglava in the ruck has been enormous – not overly tall, but he’s worked himself into the ground every week and given his best.”

The Tigers meet Doncaster East (away), South Croydon (home), Blackburn (away) and Rowville (home) across the next month.

“There’s no easy games at all, but we need to give ourselves a chance by playing consistent footy,” Winterton said.