St Mary’s to draw motivation from dramatic end to 2022 season

St Mary’s heartbreaking end to last season has the Burras chasing redemption in 2023 and a couple of handy recruits has them primed for a finals tilt.

Mitchell Hocking in action for St Mary’s. Picture: Andy Brownbill

A heartbreaking finish to last season has given St Mary’s a “burning motivation” this pre-season.

The Burras were knocked out of the NFNL Division 2 top-five in a dramatic finish to the season, losing their last four games.

An after-the-siren goal saw Diamond Creek snatch victory in Round 15 and deny St Mary’s a finals-sealing win before losses to Eltham and Lower Plenty.

Then, in the final game of the year, a loss to Thomastown – despite having more scoring shots – saw the Bears jump into fifth and end St Mary’s campaign.

Coach Fabian Carelli said the club’s 2022 season proved the club belonged among the finals contenders but 2023 would be even more difficult.

St Mary’s Lachlan Read gathers the ball. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“It gives us a lot of confidence to know we were thereabouts,” he said.

“Our best can be really good and can mix it but we’ve still got to bridge that gap, so there’s a burning motivation there.

“We still need to tackle it as a different year because you look at what some of the other clubs are doing, there’s been some heavy recruitment by the likes of Eltham and Thommo and then you’ve got Northcote Park coming down.

“It doesn’t leave much wriggle room for the rest of the teams so we’ve got to have that natural improvement and try to keep pace.”

Carelli is confident the natural improvement in his young squad, combined with some quality recruits, will see the club back in the hunt for a maiden Division 2 finals berth.

The Burras have secured Jack Bianchin from Division 1 club Macleod as well as Jeremiah Antypas and Adrian Bonato from VAFA Premier C club Marcellin.

Bianchin returns to Whatmough Park after playing juniors for St Mary’s and brings plenty of experience after 141 games for the Kangas, including the 2015 Division 1 premiership.

Antypas is a strong-marking key forward who will boost St Mary’s attack, he booted 19 goals in 18 appearances last season.

“We’re still going down the youth path, trying to invest in home-grown still, but we’ve added some experience for nearly the first time,” Carelli said.

“They’ll add some experience, which will help the likes of Nick Gedge and Nick Dean, which is what we were after.

“Jack has been our standout, he and Adam Lucic have led the way on the track, they’ve pushed the standards and you can see some of the other kids latch on, which is really good.

“With that natural progression and leadership we’ve added I think we’ll see some other players that might have gone unnoticed last year step up.

“Then add in the potential (Northern) Knights boys we may get, we’ll look to play them in senior footy.”

Swapping places with Bianchin, ruckman Zach Hudson has gone to Macleod to test himself in the top flight.

“We’ve got to juggle the pieces around a little bit,” Carelli said.

“It’s pretty hard to replace ruckmen, we’d been so lucky to have big Bailey Leonard and Zach Hudson combining in the ruck.

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“Zach is having a crack at Div 1, Bailey will still be our No.1 but we’ll have to find that second ruckman that you need.”

St Mary’s has locked in a trio of practice matches as it ramps up preparations for Round 1.

The Burras will tackle Eastern league club Templestowe, Western Region outfit Sunshine and Northern Division 3 runners-up Laurimar.

The club will then kick off its 2023 campaign away to newly promoted South Morang.