EFNL 2025: Templestowe sinks flag rival Wantirna South in ‘point to prove’ Division 2 bout

Templestowe flexed against arguably its closest Eastern Division 2 flag rival on Saturday to remain on top of the ladder. The coach says his team had been setting itself for this one ...

Josh Warren was among Tempy’s best on Saturday. (Photo by Josh Chadwick)

In the words of senior coach Nick Batsanis, Templestowe had a “point to prove”.

The Dockers proved that point, flexing against arguably their closest Eastern Division 2 flag rival with a 13.11 (89) to 6.11 (47) victory over Wantirna South on Saturday in an almighty statement.

On song from the first bounce, Tempy kept the visitors goalless in the opening term before leading at all changes.

The pair last met in Round 3 with the Devils getting it done in a canter by 44 points – with Batsanis and his men setting their sights on the return bout.

“Especially after that defeat – I felt they were the team to beat,” he said.

“We prepared ourselves in the weeks prior to come out and win (on Saturday).

“I thought our pressure around the ball, especially in the first quarter, was immense. Especially in the second quarter (when they had the breeze), we were able to control the momentum.”

Usual suspects Matt Mariani (three goals) and Michael Fogarty were “huge for us” through the middle, “especially in some big moments”, Batsanis said.

Meanwhile, Bailey Watson – a mid-year signing from MPFNL outfit Rosebud – impressed the coach with three majors on debut.

“He came into the fold and gave us a bit more height and structure up forward,” Batsanis said.

“Alex Brown played a good role up forward, but our back six were supreme all day.”

Kristian Trkulja, Beau Mitchener, Josh Warren and Daniel Barnes (two goals) also finished among the best.

The Dockers sit a game clear in first with a 10-2 record. Asked where he thought his side held an ace over its rivals, Batsanis said: “We pride ourselves on our contested ball – being a bit more mature than others, that’s probably our strength.

“We’re pretty realistic too – we know it’s pretty hard to win games of footy in Division 2, too, so we just need to make sure that we front up every week.”

The elephant in the room? The club last lifted a senior premiership cup in 2010 under then-coach John Brown – who was Batsanis’ mentor in his first year at Templestowe.

The 15-year first at stake this September goes unspoken, but Batsanis assured his players were “well aware” of the flag drought.

“Our goal is to play finals, and right now, we want to be top-three. That’s the best position to be in to win a grand final … Templestowe has been in the same division since 2010,” he said.

“There is a bit of a point to prove in that regard and we feel like we’ve got the right list to do it, but we’ve just got to keep fronting up to win games of footy.”

Templestowe is away to last-placed Lilydale in Round 13.