EFNL Division 3: Why Donvale can take the next step according to coach Kevin Collins

Just two points separated Donvale from premiership glory in the Eastern league’s Division 3, prompting this feedback from the coach ...

Agony and ecstasy.

There’s fine line separating the two in Australian rules football.

For Donvale last Saturday afternoon, it was the former.

Falling two points short of minor premier Waverley Blues in the Eastern league Division 3 decider, the 7.12 (54) to 7.10 (52) result left Magpies’ coach Kevin Collins in awe of his group.

The veteran coach declared in the build-up it would be “a game for the ages” – and his charges almost staged one of the great grand final upsets.

“As a group I’m really proud of their efforts of what they’ve done, because it was a three-year campaign,” Collins said.

“It had been building for a long time so coming into finals, centimetres make the difference, in grand finals, it’s millimetres.

“Very small things can turn into big things and momentum went their way in the last five minutes I guess.

“It was just an arm-wrestle.”

MORE: Waverley Blues break through in heart-stopper

Just two points separated Donvale and the Waverley Blues in the decider. Picture: Davis Harrigan

Donvale fell 18 points behind early in the second term before surging back into the contest in the third – leading by seven points at the final change.

Collins was left to lament a number of wasted forays into attack.

“We’d been watching them (Waverley) in the last four games they’d played, and they set most of their offence from defence,” he said.

“We were aware of that, we played into their hands in the first quarter and a half, and we negated that which brought us back into the game.

“Having identified that, I just think we didn’t lower our eyes and our forwards didn’t get dangerous enough to make them accountable, and so the number of intercept marks they took and rebounded forward was significant.”

Donvale coach Kevin Collins is confident his group will rise again. Picture: Davis Harrigan

Collins is as familiar to premiership success at Donvale as he is to grand final despair.

He coached the club to the 1994 second-tier flag before toppling a juggernaut Vermont outfit in the 1996 top-flight decider.

Grand final losses in 1995 and 1998 fell either side of the almighty boilover, but Saturday’s match sits up there with the 1996 triumph, despite the heartbreak.

“I think it sits up there with the great grand finals,” Collins said.

“I think our best one in terms of underdog (status) was ’96 when we beat Vermont after not having beaten them throughout the season and they were almost on a two-year undefeated run.

“In terms of achievement, this one was nearly as good as that, having had the season that we had.

“Waverley Blues are a really good outfit, they’d beaten us by 10 goals both rounds, so there was a gap we had to make up … we nearly made it up so it would’ve been great in terms of an upset.”

Donvale coach Kevin Collins. Picture: Davis Harrigan

The latest loss isn’t without great disappointment, but Collins is confident his group will rise again.

“I have been on the end of a couple of close ones, and this one was probably the most disappointing, just because how good the boys have been,” he said.

“They’ve met different challenges along the way … what might’ve been and you literally go into folklore when you win grand finals.

“They’ll get there at some stage but it would’ve been nice this year.”