EFNL Division 1 2024: Mitcham wins back-to-back flags to complete top-division climb
It has clawed its way back from a long road which has taken in both the depths of despair and the highs of a stunning revival – but Mitcham’s latest premiership triumph has returned it to Eastern’s top-flight for the first time in almost two decades.
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THE climb is complete.
Premier Division football awaits Mitcham next season after romping to a fourth premiership in nine years – and a second consecutive flag – with an 8.7 (55) to 2.3 (15) victory over Park Orchards in the Eastern league Division 1 grand final on Saturday.
From the depths of Division 3 less than a decade ago, longserving Mitcham coach Neil Winterton has overseen the rise since taking over in 2015.
Lifting a fourth cup at the helm, Winterton, and his Tigers, return the club to the top-flight for the first time since 2006.
But not without the guidance of an even longer-serving president and an army of rusted-on supporters, who weathered merger talks and a near-brush with Division 4 earlier on.
“It means a hell of a lot,” Winterton said.
“Matt McCubbin, who’s been president I think since 2007, the club was on its knees at that point – there was talk of aligning with another club and they were nearly down in Division 4.
“For him to be involved and see the club climb all the way back up to Premier Division, it’s massive.
“Talking to a lot of the older supporters who were around during that really successful (top-division) period, they’re just so happy that the club’s back where we feel we belong.”
Played in wet and muddy conditions – and sometimes hail – at Boronia’s Tormore Reserve, Mitcham and Park Orchards went goalless amid an opening-quarter slog before the Tigers piled on six majors to none in the second term to put one hand on the cup with a 38-point lead at the half.
Led by an unrelenting defensive effort from best-on-ground medallist Nick Caulfield, Winterton’s men tightened their grip in the third quarter, extending the margin to 45 points by the final change.
“To be able to kick six goals (in the second term) in probably the worst conditions I’ve seen for … I can’t even remember the last time we played on a ground that was like that,” Winterton said.
“It was just sheer will, really – that’s what those conditions required.”
While the coach said the best-afield medal “could have gone to a number of players”, there was none more deserving than Caulfield, who had the measure of multiple crafty, mid-sized Park Orchards forwards.
“When they announced it (the medal), a huge cheer came from the boys,” Winterton said.
“He’s the most unassuming guy, barely says ‘boo’. He came across from The Basin (a few years ago), and I don’t even know if he was playing regular senior footy, which is astounding.
“As a coach he’s one of those players you love because he just doesn’t do anything wrong – he never gets beaten, makes the right decisions, and it was great to see him get rewarded.
“Generally those guys fly under the radar and they’re more appreciated internally.
“Whoever he played on didn’t do much and that was huge for us.”
But the Tigers didn’t have it all their own way.
Down a midfield rotation from quarter-time after Nathan Crampton came from the field with concussion, the reigning premier simply had to dig deep.
“He’s a half-forward, midfielder – so to be down a mid rotation for three quarters was challenging because I can’t remember a game where we’ve had so many guys come off with a cramp,” Winterton said.
“Because the conditions were so heavy, I reckon we had five or six blokes come off at stages cramping.
“It was a huge effort by our mids – they gritted their teeth and got the job done.”
Mitcham was denied promotion to the top tier after its stunning Division 1 grand final victory last year, owing to a league restructure.
Winterton declared ahead of Saturday that the club had a point to prove this time around – it didn’t simply “get a bit lucky” in last year’s takedown of unbeaten juggernaut South Belgrave.
In answering its critics, it touched up a Park Orchards outfit on Saturday which had lost just one home-and-away match this season – the Tigers keeping their prey goalless until the five-minute mark of the third quarter.
And with the tonne-weight of expectation lifted as the scoreboard continued to tick over, Mitcham’s latest triumph afforded the coach one of footy’s greatest pleasures – one he couldn’t have in the cliffhanging deciders of 2019 and ’23.
“The last 10 minutes I was able to really relax, soak it up and enjoy it – a bit of a different change from what we’d had the last couple of times,” Winterton said.
Discounting the two Covid-wiped years, Saturday marked a third premiership in four completed seasons.
In Winterton’s 10-year reign, it’s four in eight.
But the club’s longest-serving coach insisted he was just one cog among many making the local football powerhouse tick.
“I’ve come along for the ride,” Winterton said.
“I’ve been so fortunate to come into a club that in my first year was ready to win it in 2015.
“We then regenerated the list and got a heap of guys in, mainly from Ferntree Gully, all super talented and had had remarkable junior careers where they won a lot of premierships together.
“The testament to the club is how many of your older (former) players you see coming back for games and functions and there’s always plenty of former players coming back.
“It’s a great club and I’ve been really lucky to be involved.”
Mitcham 0.2, 6.3, 8.5, 8.7 (55)
Park Orchards 0.1, 0.1, 1.2, 2.3 (15)
Best players
Mitcham: Nick Caulfield, Nicholas Hallo, Jesse Cherry, Joshua May, Danny Baglava, Joshua Du Vallon
Park Orchards: Sam Heron, Matt Haythorne, Kane Keppel, Alex Magnano, Alexander Macrokanis, Jaye Witnish
Goals
Mitcham: Jake Parente (2), Alex Barton-Smith, Jesse Cherry, Jackson Hallo, Guy Laughlin, Cameron Pirzas, Jesse Uren
Park Orchards: Connor Hickey, Alex Macrokanis
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