MPFNL Division 1: Injuries impact Mt Eliza and Frankston YCW

Several big name stars will miss finals as injuries impact two leading MPFNL premiership contenders, while Pines’ “line in the sand” moment has given them a finals sniff.

Jake Aarts of the Tigers is tackled by Brenton Lambert of the Stonecats during the 2023 MPFNL Division 1 Grand Final. (Photo by Josh Chadwick)

One last twist could be in store as three teams battle for one finals spot in Mornington Peninsula league Division 1 this Saturday.

Going into Round 18, Rosebud, Pines and Sorrento are in the running to finish fifth and contest an elimination final.

Meanwhile, injuries to key players have impacted two leading flag contenders.

Frankston YCW vice-captain Brenton Lambert has ligament damage in an ankle.

“He won’t play this week,” YCW coach Paul Goonan said.

“We’re not sure the timeline. Fingers crossed we get him back.”

Mt Eliza has lost Tom Freeman (shoulder reco) and Ziggy Toledo (knee reco) for the remainder of the season, while former Box Hill VFL captain Damian Mascitti has a badly rolled ankle and is looking at 3-4 weeks out.

Paddy Swayn coaching Pines. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Pines, which needs to beat second-placed Mt Eliza to be any chance of making it, has stormed home winning three of its past four matches after coach Paddy Swayn put an ultimatum to his players.

“It’s funny,” Swayn said.

“About five weeks ago I said to the guys, ‘look, finals is probably off the table, so let’s work out what we want to do’.

“We wrote up three options on the board.

“This was to the whole playing group.

“I said, ‘from here on in we can commit to playing kids and we can get as many games into young kids as we can’.

“We can completely give up like some clubs would do and not commit to training and fall off the planet. Or we can keep picking our strongest side and see where it falls’.

“I said, ‘you tell me what you want to do’.

“And they said we want to keep picking our strongest side and see what happens.

“That’s what we’ve done and at least we go into the final round still a chance which is nice.”

Pines kept its finals flame aglow with a rousing win over Sorrento last Saturday, 14.18 (102) to 11.11 (77).

It was the perfect way for Swayn to celebrate his 200th game as coach. He is Pines’ longest serving coach, having steered the club in two stints — in 2008-09, and from 2015 to now.

Going into the last round, the Division 1 ladder is: 1. Dromana 58, 2. Mt Eliza 50, 3. Frankston YCW 46, 4. Red Hill 36, 5. Rosebud 32, 6. Pines 30, 7. Sorrento 30, 8. Langwarrin 20, 9. Frankston Bombers 20, 10. Mornington 18.

Round 18, on Saturday:

Frankston YCW v Rosebud, Red Hill v Mornington, Mt Eliza v Pines, Dromana v Langwarrin, Sorrento v Frankston Bombers.