Eltham coach Tim Bongetti reviews first half of club’s NFNL Division 1 return

Eltham coach Tim Bongetti admits it took his club time to adjust to its NFNL Division 1 return but those excuses are gone in the second half of the year.

Darcy Vallance in action for Eltham. Picture: Josh Chadwick

Eltham coach Tim Bongetti admits it took his club the first half of the season to adjust to NFNL Division 1 football.

The Panthers returned to the top-flight for the first time since 2017 this year but are locked in a battle to avoid relegation after just one win in the opening eight rounds.

The club started brightly, pushing Greensborough and Hurstbridge in patches before defeating Macleod in Round 3.

However, after a Round 4 bye, it has lost by 62 points to West Preston-Lakeside, 25 points to Banyule, 40 points to North Heidelberg and 115 points to Heidelberg.

Eltham faces Bundoora on Saturday to complete the first round of matches.

Jameson Wood in action for Eltham. Picture: by Josh Chadwick

Bongetti is confident his players now have a baseline of what it takes to compete at the level in the second half of the campaign.

“It’s definitely been a good learning curve for the players, myself and the club, taking that step up after seven years down in Division 2 and where the standard is now to when we left,” Bongetti said.

“We did a half-year review and we can control the ball with marks to take some of that perceived pressure away.

“You’ve got 10 seconds to yourself to make the right decision, which will help us going forward.

“We’re adjusting to the tempo of Division 1 footy, the players have games under their belts now and we’ve played roughly 30 players in the seniors side.

“There’s definitely blokes getting experience at the level, which will help in the back half of the year, the tempo has been set and we understand it.”

The heavy defeat to Heidelberg, coupled with Macleod’s breakthrough win over Bundoora, saw Eltham enter the mid-season break on the bottom of the ladder.

The Panthers, Kangas and Bulls all have one win.

Jesse Donaldson could return for Eltham this week. Picture: Valeriu Campan

It’s reminiscent of 2017 when the club was relegated on percentage after a three-way tie at the bottom with Hurstbridge and Whittlesea.

Although in stark contrast, Macleod and Bundoora played off in the grand final that season.

Despite the struggles, Bongetti has been pleased with his players effort and morale.

Lane Sinclair has stood up as a leader on and off the ground, while several youngsters have earned promotion from the under-19s.

“Definitely Lane Sinclair, he’s coming second in intercept marks in the competition,” Bongetti said.

“He’s stepped up to become a co-captain with Darcy (Vallance) and taken the step up, ball in our back half obviously helps him but he’s certainly stood out.

“Guys that have come up from our under-19s in Avi Choka and Harry Downes, they’ve put together some performances in the last couple of weeks to show they’re senior players.

“If they keep progressing the way they are at the moment it will be very hard to see them no playing senior football in the back half of the year.”

The likes of Alex Bellchambers, Declan Ayres, Colm Culligan and leading goalkicker Matt Byron have also impressed.

Experienced gun Jesse Donaldson has been limited to four games due to a hip injury but is expected to return this week against Bundoora.

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The Panthers are hopeful a handful of premiership players could return in the second half of the season.

“We’ve got some players that played in our premiership side last year that could be hitting the track shortly,” Bongetti said.

“There’s probably three or four of them you might see play senior footy in the back of the year, they’ve all been staying fit.

“They all had babies so pulled the pin on playing due to family commitments but have shown some interest in returning, which could be very handy.”