EFNL Division 2: Waverley Blues set to welcome back raft of stars after third-straight defeat

The Waverley Blues have lost three in a row for the first time in four years – but the coach says the situation is far from dire. Here’s why.

The Waverley Blues have lost three in a row but senior coach Tom Langford insists it’s “not all doom and gloom”.

The Blues fell to ladder-leader Boronia by 31 points on Saturday following defeats to top-five outfits East Burwood and Templestowe by less than a kick – but a wealth of key names are due to return in a fortnight after a bye this weekend.

Missing in action have been regular starters Joel Hatch, Ben Turner, Chris Duck, Josh Walker, James Mittell, Sam Hale, Chris Diggle and Cristian Gissara, while Nick English hasn’t played since last year’s Division 3 grand final.

Meanwhile, key forwards Matt Perry and Josh Williamson were casualties before half-time on the weekend.

Matt Perry celebrates a goal on Saturday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“We’ve gone from anywhere from five to nine of our best missing the last three games which is significant, but one of the things you hope to build as a coach over a period of time is a squad, and we’ve been really thrilled with some of the guys that have come in and had opportunities,” Langford said.

“The bye’s at a really good time for us … but we’ll have almost everyone back after the bye.

“There’ll be a lot of changes to the 22 in the next two games – we need to work out who comes through the reserves and who comes straight back in.

“There’ll be a lot of tough selection decisions … but there’s no-one that’s long-term which is fantastic.”

The Blues’ Nick Perry flies for the ball on Saturday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Blues hadn’t lost three matches in a row since 2019, and while Langford said it was a “weird” position to be in following a near-perfect campaign last season, plenty of lessons had been learned in the past three weeks.

They sit a game clear in fourth on the Division 2 ladder with an 8-5 record.

“We like to think that even though we haven’t had the wins on the board and the scoreboard might suggest that we’re back to the pack a bit in terms of our ladder position, we think we’ve been able to identify a few key areas where we need to work on, but also a few key areas we’ve identified some improvement in.

“It’s not all doom and gloom – at the end of the day sometimes having a loss or two you can identify areas whereas a win can paper over the cracks a little bit.”

Mitch Frescher takes a kick under pressure on Saturday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Blues trailed the Hawks by 10 points at half-time on Saturday before falling 29 behind at the final change in a match played in heavy conditions.

“We thought our effort against Boronia was really strong despite not getting the win – we were really pleased with the performance and effort and intent and the way we stuck to our plan,” Langford said.

The Blues meet last-placed Upper Gully after the bye, with matches against Heathmont (third), Knox (ninth), The Basin (eighth) and Ringwood (seventh) rounding out the run home.