Southern league 2020: Oakleigh District keen to go again in Division 1
With the Doveton Eagles asking to go to Division 3, the Oaks say they’ve recruited well and are ready to have another dash at Division 1.
Southern
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Senior coach Dom Carosella believes Oakleigh District will be “more than competitive’’ if it is granted a reprieve from relegation and stays in Division 1 of the Southern league.
With a player exodus prompting Division 2 premiers Doveton Eagles to ask to go to Division 3, the Oaks will almost certainly be asked to stay in the top flight.
They will take up the invitation.
The Districts finished on the bottom in 2019 with a 1-17 record and a percentage of 65.92.
For the second half of the season they were locked in a relegation battle with Highett, which was 2-16 and came in ninth.
But Carosella insisted his team was better than the ladder suggested, and said a string of recruits for 2020 had him confident the Oaks could hold their own if they remained in Division 1.
“Absolutely. We were really competitive last year … if you speak to the Cheltenhams and the Dingleys and all of them, they’ll tell you we pushed them pretty hard,’’ he said.
“The feedback I got most weeks was along the lines of, ‘You guys have got a great young side, it’s just that you’re a bit too young and undersized’.
“We pushed Cheltenham to the last quarter. We pushed Dingley to the last quarter. We were 35 points up against Port Melbourne Colts before half time and we lost. We beat Mordialloc.
“We were just lacking a bit of experience and size – we had nine players who played all year in the seniors and they were eligible for the Under 19s – and that’s why we’ve gone out and picked up some older guys.’’
Matt Chapman, the son of former Oakleigh District senior coach Gary Chapman, is among the recruits.
Chapman has a decorated playing resume that includes stints at the Murray Bushrangers, Bendigo Bombers in the VFL, Barooga, Numurkah, Barooga, Heidelberg and Caroline Springs.
His cousin Mark McGill has joined him at the Districts.
McGill was a premiership player at Langwarrin and went on to the Dandenong Stingrays and Frankston VFL.
He also played for Labrador, Palm Beach and VAFA club Prahran.
Former Oakleigh Charger Dave Marchese (De La Salle) has also crossed from the Ammos.
Carosella said the club was also pleased to regain former best and fairest Ryan Pearson, who was with Hampton Park last year, and Daniel Kirby from St Kilda City.
Kirby has brought Chanel Lalotoa with him from the Peanut Farm.
“We’ve done well with our recruiting and we’ve got a few more in the pipeline,’’ Carosella said.
“We’ve really tried to bolster up our backline – we were young and inexperienced there last year – and our midfield.’’
Carosella was a stalwart of the Oakleigh District senior team for many years, and returned to the club last year after coaching the Cranbourne reserves to a premiership.
He admitted he was shocked at how much Division 1 had improved.
“It skyrocketed to another level,’’ he said.
“I was gone for two years, and when I saw the comp I thought, ‘Gee, this is hot’. It really threw me. I never expected it to be so much better. It’s the best I’ve seen Division 1.’’
Carosella’s son Jake joined him at Oakleigh District last year and was outstanding as a midfielder.
The former Dandenong Stingray did some training at VFL club Casey Demons.
The Southern league has called a meeting of club presidents on February 5 to discuss Doveton Eagles’ plight.