Old Eltham Collegians stuns NFL Division 3 premiership fancy Laurimar
Old Eltham Collegians announces itself as a NFL Division 3 finals threat after a stunning come-from-behind win over flag fancy Laurimar.
Northern
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern. Followed categories will be added to My News.
“Without a doubt the biggest scalp we’ve got.”
Old Eltham Collegians coach Matt Sleeman had no doubt about the magnitude of Saturday’s thrilling three-point win over Laurimar.
The stunning come-from-behind win sits comfortably alongside a 65-point triumph over grand finalist South Morang in 2019 for the Northern Football League’s newest club.
“We spoke before the season about ticking off firsts, being a new club in the competition there’s a lot of things we haven’t done, and that was one of them,” Sleeman said.
“To be on the right end is good, 10-goal wins are good but close wins are character building and season defining.”
Unlike that surprise win in 2019, the Turtles did it the hard way at Eltham College, coming from 14 points down at three-quarter-time to snatch victory.
However, it could have been so much simpler.
Jack Snow’s second goal of the game levelled the scores before Collegians kicked three consecutive behinds.
Laurimar had one finals chance to claim the win but man-of-the-match Tim Ellis stood tall with a match-saving intercept mark to secure a 5.15 (45) to 6.6 (42) result.
Old Eltham Collegians stuns NFL Division 3 premiership fancy Laurimar
“Tim Ellis tore it to shreds,” Sleeman said of his star defender.
“It looked like he was playing a different game, we was marking the footy when no one else could, his tackling and aggression, he was our best-on by a long way.
“Tom O’Neill and Clay Crimmins were both out with COVID, they’re two older blokes with good voice and good heads, so I thought it was character defining – losing two older heads against a really good side.”
Inaccuracy dogged Old Eltham for much of the day, the Turtles kicking 0.4 in the first term, had 2.7 at half-time and 3.10 after the third.
“My assistants were really in control because I was panicking a bit but they were saying ‘don’t worry, we’re playing well, it will turn, be patient’,” Sleeman said.
A decision to shift gears in the midfield proved match-turning.
Matt Keys and Niall McDonough were moved into the middle to provide more muscle and it sparked the home team.
“At half-time we literally flipped our midfield around, there were guys that played 70-80 per cent of the second half who haven’t played midfield all year,” Sleeman said.
“We felt we needed some bigger bodies in there, we were losing it at the contest, and it really worked for us.
“We wanted bulls, we said who are our three biggest guys, and instead of rotating through them forward we just played the same guys.
“We threw our smaller midfielders forward and used a bit more pace in the forward line and it changed the game in the end.
“We knew it was going to be sloppy and hard, so we wanted to hit them hard and we had a record number of tackles.
“I said before the game I wanted 60-plus and I’m pretty sure we had 80-plus, at three-quarter time we’d already had 60 and I was a bit nervous about my quote.”
DIV 2: LOWER PLENTY PUTS ON MIDFIELD MASTERCLASS
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
Snow was the only multiple goalkicker of the match, while young tall Seb Francis-Perkins again impressed at just 17 years old.
Jake Richards, Ethan Frawley and Ethan Bateman were Laurimar’s best in defeat.
Elsewhere, South Morang kept Reservoir scoreless to record a 205-point win, Kilmore (54) edged Heidelberg West (43) and Mernda (150) outclassed Lalor (20).
Old Eltham will look to make it four in a row when it travels to Lalor on Saturday, while Laurimar hosts Heidelberg West.
TURTLES’ RAPID RISE PUTS FINALS IN FOCUS
Before COVID intervened Old Eltham Collegians were on track to play finals last season, this year it wants to make it a reality.
The Turtles’ ambition highlights the rapid progress the club has made since crossing to the Northern Football League in 2019.
On its knees in the VAFA, Collegians made the jump to NFL Division 3 and surprised many with six wins in their debut season – including a 65-point thumping of grand finalist South Morang.
Seven wins in 12 games had the club in fourth position when the 2021 season was called off, denying it a debut finals appearance, and a strong recruiting campaign has raised expectations again for 2022.
A heart-breaking 10-point loss to Kilmore in Round 1 was an early sign with Turtles were ready to challenge the competition’s top teams.
A thrilling one-point win over Heidelberg West – its major rival for fourth place – on Saturday now puts Old Eltham in the finals box seat.
Turtles coach Matt Sleeman said there was plenty of excitement at Eltham College.
“We’re pretty happy with where we’re at right now considering where the club’s come from, from the amateur days,” he said.
“There’s a long road ahead but three games in I think we’re in a really good spot this season.
“We felt we would have played finals last year and if you look at (Saturday’s) game there’s maybe a little bit of retribution for not playing Heidelberg West last year and prove we were a top-four side.
“We’ve come out and done that early in the season and we get to play them two more times at our home ground and you’d like to think we’re more likely to beat them at home.”
Another sign of Collegians’ rise, Saturday’s highly-anticipated clash against Laurimar has been rated the Match of the Round and will be broadcast on local radio – a first for the Turtles.
Securing the likes of Nick Milne (Hurstbridge), Keys and Tom Rogers (both Eltham) and Jack Snow (West Preston-Lakeside) is a startling achievement for a Division 3 club, let alone one in the league for one-and-a-half seasons.
Rogers has been named in the Turtles’ best in all three games, while Milne leads the club with six goals.
Sleeman said it was proof of his club’s growth.
“(The off-season) was really exciting … we’re a low budget club so most people come because they know someone or they want to play for a club where it’s a bit of fun but still play finals,” he said.
“Having a reputation as a good, fun club and the potential to play finals, that’s what’s attracted people to us.
“Matt Keys said when he came to the club he was going to struggle to train a lot and that’s maybe why he fell out of favour at Eltham.
“If a player of his calibre wants to play for us – he’s got a young family and a business – he’s training as much as he can and if he continues to play the way he did in the first two rounds I’ve got no issue.
“Then blokes like Tom Rogers and Nick Milne coming across from Eltham and Hurstbridge, they’ve only missed one or two sessions between them.”
Keys missed the win over Heidelberg West due to a wedding but is expected to return for the clash against the Power.
However, it’s not just the big recruits standing up.
Collegians secured one of the league’s most promising young talls over summer as well in Sebastian Francis-Perkins.
The 17-year-old has turned heads in his first season at the club having crossed from Montmorency.
“Seb captained Monty in the under-17s last year, he trained with us a couple of times, really liked it and next thing he said he wanted to play,” Sleeman said.
“We were a bit surprised because he’s come from a Div 1 club and he could have gone straight into the Monty senior program and probably would have played a senior game at Monty this year.
DIV 1: PREMIERSHIP HERO RETURNS TO ROOSTERS
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
DIV 3: SIX WEEKS FOR LOCAL FOOTY COWARD HIT
“He’s been huge, he’s very skilful, tall, fit, plays small and tall and like to take a hanger – which we have to hold him back on.
“With a few out we played him as a key forward on the weekend, it’s a big job for a 17-year-old, but he’s definitely capable.”
Having learnt some critical lessons in the loss to Kilmore and win over West, Sleeman is looking forward to another big challenge against Laurimar.
The Power claimed a pair of three-goal wins in their two meetings last season but will be without captain Mitch Thompson for the match.
Ranked: The top 70 local footy clubs of 2024
After a stunning year of local footy we’ve ranked our top 70 clubs as the best in Melbourne. Did we get it right? See who we say is number one and lodge your own vote.
Silly season: boom recruits roll into Northern clubs
Local footy silly season is officially here and Northern league clubs have secured some big recruits for 2025. Keep track of who’s going where here.