EFNL 2025: Inside Doncaster’s rebuild in bid to rise from recess
Plunged into recess on the eve of the season following a mass walkout, Eastern club Doncaster is preparing for its rise from the brink of collapse in 2026. We go inside the Sharks’ rebuild ...
Coaches? Check. Players? Check. Volunteers? Check.
All going to plan, proud Eastern league club Doncaster will return to the field next season.
Plunged into recess on the eve of the 2025 campaign following a mass walkout, the Sharks have been busily ticking off each step behind the scenes in their bid to rise.
The embattled club satisfied its first league audit in August: have enough expressions of interest from players, and have a senior coach in place.
It passed with flying colours, signing at least 30 players at that stage. And, it had installed a coach.
In fact, it has two.
Recently appointing co-coaches in former players Michael De Corrado and Jake Pantas, attention has turned to scouting enough signatures and volunteers to satisfy the next phase of league requirements ahead of Christmas.
The league recently confirmed the club would reset in Division 4 in 2026 – the fifth tier of competition – after competing in Premier Division just two years ago.
De Corrado said the first order of business was to get to the root of the problem plaguing the floundering club for years: volunteers.
A call to arms followed – its committee of four since transforming into a team of 10.
“The first thing we had to discuss as a football club is what’s gone wrong in the past,” De Corrado said.
“We can single out the exodus of a few players, but there were a few other things, like lack of volunteers around the footy club.
“There were the same three or four guys on the committee rolling up their sleeves.
“We just didn’t have that buy-in … so before the coaches were even appointed it was great to see a few past players jump back on board and one of the guys is doing a past-player roster for all home games next year.
“We just want to get faces back in the door – and not just watching.
“Jake and I have felt really supported by those past players who have jumped back on board.”
Hardly a plum coaching job in a market swimming with inviting opportunities, De Corrado and Pantas each put forward an application – unbeknown to the other.
De Corrado, fresh from three seasons at the helm of Southern outfit Ashwood, and Pantas, an assistant at Pascoe Vale alongside heading the reserves and under-18s, decided two heads were better than one.
The common attraction? A love of the club.
“Jake and I played at Doncaster over 10 years ago, so we know the club well, we know the people well,” De Corrado said.
“We’ve stayed mates ever since. At the time we had no idea that we each applied for the job, but I just happened to find out he was going for it too.
“I gave him a ring one day … and threw up an idea of given that we’ve got two pretty strong networks in different leagues, why don’t we put our heads together and do it together?
“He’s never been a senior coach before but he does have some good assistant experience at a Premier club in the Essendon comp. As soon as I mentioned that to him, he was all for it.
“We took it to the club, we weren’t sure if they were going to go for it, and they were keen on it.
“What brought us back? We absolutely loved our time at the club back then, the culture has never wavered, it’s always been fantastic and just the thought of being able to rebuild it was enticing to both of us.”
The club is “well ahead of schedule” in meeting its November audit according to De Corrado, with some 40 players signed for next season.
It’s aiming to have between 55 and 60 by Christmas, with it set to field senior and reserve teams in 2026.
“I’m really confident … I can’t see us going backwards now from the position we’re in,” De Corrado said.
“We’re in a bit of a rare position where the club is really stable off the field, but now it’s about Jake and I and the footy ops manager trying to get players up to 55-60.”
Pitted against one of the country’s most challenging population demographics, the Manningham-based club won’t have an under-19s team next year – but De Corrado says the club and league are busily plotting behind the scenes, hopeful of a future underage arm.
Speaking to this masthead earlier this year about the impacts of Melbourne’s changing demographic on the survival of suburban football clubs, leading social analyst Mark McCrindle said:
“If we look at the under-20s, teenagers and children, Doncaster is below the national and state average.
“By the time you get to the 55-plus, it’s above the state and national average. That tells us something of the changing demographic, and quite simply, families are finding affordability challenges there.”
But De Corrado highlighted Doncaster’s neighbouring clubs as models to aspire to in a challenging market.
“It’s a tough demographic to break into, a lot of people have been saying it’s a hard area to get kids, but at the same time I look at Templestowe and Donvale, they don’t seem to have any trouble getting it done,” he said.
“There are a couple of junior (Doncaster) teams that we’ve got which is (under) 13s and 14s, but we’ve just got to keep putting time into those junior teams and looking to get more.”
The Sharks have been announcing their signings in recent days – with multiple premiership player Nick Komen headlining the haul.
The defender – who played at Heathmont this season – was part of the club’s rapid rise through the divisions in the 2010s when it won premierships in 2011, ’13 and ’15 to jump into the league’s top-flight.
“He’s a rusted-on Donny boy … he was obviously really disappointed with what happened this year – to get him back was really important,” De Corrado said.
Another is Anthony Minisini.
“He was devastated with what happened this year, and he actually didn’t play anywhere this year,” De Corrado said.
“A 28-year-old key defender, they don’t grow on trees and he’s going to come back better than ever. To have those two in defence for us is great.”
And 2026 could signal the return of Eastern league legend Chris Annakis to Schramms Reserve.
The three-time league medallist was coach when the club was dealt its bitter recess blow earlier this year.
He played at Heathmont this season, wearing an unusually large number – 88 – but De Corrado was hopeful the former Sharks captain would again don the hoops and his famous No. 5.
“All I can say is his excitement has been building in the last week or so … the fact that he wants to chuck the boots on again and get involved I think speaks volumes of his character. We’re hopeful, we’ll see how he goes over the summer,” De Corrado said.
Doncaster won just three matches in its last season of senior competition following relegation from the league’s top division.
But De Corrado says any culture reset goes well beyond results.
“We need to get back to winning again, but it’s also about the culture where they all want to be there for training and functions,” he said.
“If we don’t, it’s just going to be the same story in a few years’ time.”
And he’s under no illusion about the hurdle posed by the league’s lowest tier, Division 4, in the club’s quest to reset.
“Even though we are a big-name footy club and we are starting on the bottom, a lot of people have already said ‘You’re going to win the flag quite easily’ … I don’t see it that way at all – I think Division 4 is really competitive,” De Corrado said.
“We’re not just going to waltz in and win it – we’re going to be building from scratch.
“We’re going to have to be ready come round one.”
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