VAFA: Elsternwick on top of the ladder in Division 4

A tennis coach, a former lacrosse star and an ex-VFL ruckman have helped Elsternwick to a strong start in the VAFA.

Elsternwick is going well early in the VAFA season. Pic: Elsternwick FC

They’re 3-0, they’re kicking lots of goals and they haven’t sighted their co-captain “Pistol’’ Peter Cassidy yet.

It’s been a snazzy start to the VAFA season for Division 4 club Elsternwick; in fact, its best in 15 years, according to coach Peter Higginbotham.

The Wicks are on top of the ladder with a percentage of 567.50, the product of a one-point victory over South Melbourne Districts in Round 1, a 252-point drubbing of Box Hill North in Round 2, and last Saturday’s 121-point caning of Swinburne University.

Assistant coach and former VFL player Dylan Jones and Matt Ball both slotted five goals against Swinburne and Nick Lowrie booted four, more than enough to cover for the absence of the club’s evergreen spearhead Justin Hunter, who missed with injury.

Lowrie leads the competition goalkicking with 17 after three routings.

Elsty have had a “massive’’ influx of players since 2019.

“It’s all come from generic growth, 100 per cent,’’ Higginbotham, who was appointed ahead of the 2020 season that never went ahead, said.

“We haven’t actively chased anyone. It’s mates of mates who want to play and it’s come from everywhere. We’ve had quite a few from De La Salle come across through a friendship network, quite a few from Caulfield Grammar through a friendship network, a couple of good walk-ins off the street.

“A bloke called Cam Campbell, who’d played at Epping a few years ago and also at St Kilda City, lives around the corner and came in looking for a kick. I think we’re up to about 30 clearances for the club this year, let alone the ones we had pre-COVID.’’

Andrew Oldfield takes a kick for Elsty.

Ball is one of the more prominent inclusions. A few years ago he kicked plenty of goals for the Caulfield Grammarian Under 19s.

But Jones, the son of former league footballer Bernie Jones, was the biggest and the best addition after playing state league football and then at Bonbeach in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean competition.

Surprisingly, Elsty are using him more as a centre half forward than a ruckman.

Tennis coach Ben “Sticks’’ Reese trained with the club last year, liked the feel of it and decided to play.

His tap work is a talking point at the Wicks; he was credited with winning the hit-outs 72-3 in Round 2.

Matt Harvey has also joined Elsternwick with an elite sporting background. He’s a state and national lacrosse representative.

Returning to football, he has been an “absolute revelation’’ across half back, according to Higginbotham.

“He’s already our general in the backline after seven years out of footy,’’ he said.

Jones is co-captain with Cassidy, who missed the early exchanges of the season because of his Premier Cricket commitments with Dandenong, which played through to the grand final against Prahran.

Cassidy is an accurate medium pace bowler on the cricket pitch and a crafty midfielder on the football field.

“He’s an outside mid with one of the best shoes in the division,’’ Higginbotham said, referring to his kicking skills rather than his choice of footware.

Elsternwick has four senior teams this year, including a women’s side in its inaugural season.

Rob Green is coaching the women and the club is impressed at the rate he is developing his charges. That’s no surprise given he operates his own football kicking program.

Elsty are also running an Auskick program (on Friday nights at Holmes-Todd Oval) for the first time.