Southern league: Springvale Districts in line for promotion to Division 1
With or without the premiership it was favourite to win, Springvale Districts is set to play in the top division of Southern next year.
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Everything pointed to it being a season of success and a reward for unremitting effort for Springvale Springvale.
The Demons were unbeaten from 13 matches.
They were three games clear of second-placed East Brighton.
They had Division 2’s leading goalkicker in Matt Wetering and some of its leading players in Mason Russell, Cory Hutchinson and Peter Heng.
But the Demons ended the season on a deep low rather than premiership high after they were denied the chance to win the grand final and gain promotion to Division 1, something they’ve been diligently building towards for three years.
With Covid cutting into and eventually killing off the season before finals could be played, Districts were left “unfulfilled’’ and “shattered’’, coach Kris Thompson said.
“A lot of hard work went into getting us where we got to,’’ Thompson said last night.
“It started in 2018 really, when we had our eyes on a Division 2 flag when we were in Division 3.
“We went through losing the 2019 grand final to Doveton Eagles and everything that followed that. In 2020 we recruited well and trained right through until the season got shut down, and then for 2021 we recruited well and retained everyone and had remote training sessions, group sessions, played on and off, got to 13 wins and had no losses, and then the season got canned.
“So it’s devastating for the club, the players, the coaches, the staff.’’
With or without the premiership it looked destined to win, Springvale Districts is likely to be a Division 1 club next season.
The Southern league board will meet on Monday to confirm relegation and promotion, and is tipped to elevate the Demons to the top grade.
If it happens, the club would have achieved its goal of getting there, but not in the circumstances it wanted.
“We would have loved the opportunity to win a Division 2 premiership on the field,’’ Thompson said.
“The week, the build-up, the day, the game, that’s the best part of winning a premiership, as we experienced in 2018 (when the Demons won the Division 3 flag).
“Not that we were guaranteed to win it. We just wanted the opportunity.’’
The Southern league board will also discuss the prospect of awarding premierships even though no finals were played.
The Essendon District league made the big call on Thursday to present flags for an uncompleted season.
An argument could be advanced that Springvale Districts and Division 4 club Carrum Patterson Lakes should receive premierships since they were unbeaten and the league has decided to apply relegation and promotion.
As a counterargument, not all sides played each other; Districts never met second-placed East Brighton.
“My personal opinion is that if you’ve deemed the season complete enough to promote and relegate teams, then you’ve got to award a premiership,’’ Thompson said.
“I strongly believe that. But like I said, it’s only my opinion.’’
Thompson said his side would be “going into the unknown’’ in Division 1.
He said it would certainly have nothing to lose.
“We hope and we think we can go OK and surprise a few teams, but we’ll be flying blind,’’ Thompson said.
“It will actually be refreshing, because we’ve had pressure and expectation on us the last couple of years, been the hunted.
“But now we come up as the bottom-ranked side and we get a free hit at every club.’’
Rugged onballer Mladen Josic won’t be part of 2022, having told the Demons he will be retiring.
But as Thompson noted, Josic also retired ahead of 2021 and ended up playing.
“I’ll put his magnet in the bottom draw. I won’t put it in the bin just yet,’’ the coach said with a laugh.
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