Outer East league: Berwick Springs gets closer to finals berth in Division 1

Second-year club Berwick Springs endured a tough start, but coach Rodney Benstead says it helped bond his young side, which is eyeing a first-ever finals berth in Outer East.

It was one of the most important wins in Berwick Springs’ brief history.

The Titans beat Healesville by 15 points on Saturday to move into fourth spot on the Outer East Division 1 ladder.

It means the Titans — in their second season of senior footy — are in control of their own destiny.

Keep winning and they will make the final four and earn an historic first finals berth.

“We lost to them (Healesville) by about 30 points in round one and to beat them on their home deck was fantastic,’’ Berwick Springs coach Rodney Benstead said of Saturday’s victory.

“They (Healesville) would have gone six points ahead of us and it would have been out of our hands making finals, but now we’ve gone two points in front and it’s in our own hands.

“We want to create history, our list is really excited and having depth at this time of the year goes a long way.’’

Berwick Springs coach Rodney Benstead.

Berwick Springs is fast becoming one of local football’s success stories.

It started fielding junior football teams in 2008 in the old Dandenong and District Junior Football League.

The Titans became a senior club in late 2019 and was to field seniors and reserves in 2020, but the season was wiped out because of Covid.

They finally got going in 2021 and, after mixed results, they’ve taken giant strides forward this season.

“It’s really exciting the improvement we’ve had from the start of the year when Healesville beat us pretty convincingly to where we are at now is really fantastic for the club,’’ Benstead said.

Jarrod Hocking celebrates a Titans goal. Picture: Facebook

“And there are some young players playing some really good football. Yeah, we feel like it’s in our own destiny now.

“It’s one of those years where everyone can beat everyone so you just go not every week wanting to keep improving.’’

Benstead looks back on those early days in 2021 and describes the season as “really difficult’’.

“We were training out of Sweeney (Reserve) and then getting in our cars and going home,’’ he said.

“We had no showers, we had the first 10 games away from our home ground.

“It was just tough but I think that bonds you together.

“This year we’ve got a new facility and we’re always trying to recruit and develop our own young players and we feel like we’re in a good position because we’re improving every week. It’s exciting. You don’t want to cap them, you want to keep improving.’’

Dysan Morris. Picture: Facebook

Berwick Springs has won seven of its 13 games this season, plus a draw.

The Titans upset Emerald by five points in Round 11 to announce themselves a genuine finals contender.

Two weeks later they kicked 25 goals to thump Belgrave.

On Saturday, the Titans had a raft of contributors, with Kayden Buselli, Jayden Malek, Riley Hillman, Daniel Ousley, Blake Simondson and Aidan Nelson showing the way.

With five games to go, Berwick Springs gets its chance to play finals, and Benstead says it’s an exciting time.

“It’s a competition that’s a marathon,’’ he said.

“We play each team three times so you’ll definitely know where you stand.

“Our seconds are on top of the ladder so I feel like we really recruited to get some depth because I thought this year would be a survival of the fitness with colds and Covid and that. So we’ve got good depth at our club and we’re really excited about our run home, we play the top team (Seville) at our ground this weekend and we give ourselves a real chance, we go into the game pretty confident.

“Having good depth has helped us.’’

Berwick Springs boasts some of the best talent in the league.

Captain Ousley has been really exciting this season, setting high standards.

Youngster Simmonson has displayed some real quality, while dynamic young forward Tom Nelson took mark of the year recently and continues to make a name for himself — he has booted 38 goals in 13 games.

The run home:

Berwick Springs faces:

Seville (1st), Emerald (3rd), Yarra Glen (6th), Belgrave (7th), Gembrook Cockatoo (2nd).