Gap growing between Northern Football League’s top divisions as reigning Division 2 premiers scramble for survival

IS WINNING the Northern Football League Division 2 premiership a poisoned chalice?

NFL Division 2 grand final: Fitzroy Stars V North Heidelberg at Preston City Oval Preston. North Heidelberg wins. Winners and losers. Picture: Richard Serong

IS WINNING the Northern Football League Division 2 premiership a poisoned chalice?

It is a question Whittlesea and Epping were left to ponder over the past two seasons and North Heidelberg must be asking after a winless start to 2015.

Lower Plenty was the last Division 2 premier to hold its place in Division 1 for more than one year, edging out Whittlesea on percentage to finish ninth in 2012.

The Bears battled again in 2013, clawing to survival, but have since consolidated their position in the top tier.

Lower Plenty football operations manager Tony Newlands said the 2012 campaign was one of the toughest in the club’s history.

“The first year was certainly a real struggle and a lot of effort and resources went into trying to get our guys ready for the difference,” Newlands said.

“We weren’t a club that went out and recruited, our model was more growing our kids.

“In that first year, we just had to put all our energy into identifying games where we thought we could be more competitive than others, and putting the effort into those games.

“It’s not that we didn’t put effort into every game, but we certainly worked very hard in the lead up to games we thought we’d be more competitive in.”

Newlands said he felt the divide between the top tier and Division 2 had widened since the Bears won promotion.

Whittlesea coach Brad Dean knows how tough Division 1 can be. Picture: Mark Wilson.

Whittlesea coach Brad Dean knows all too well the work required to be competitive in Division 1.

When the jubilation surrounding the Eagles’ 2013 Division 2 premiership subsided, the difficulty of the task confronting the club hit home.

The Eagles conceded an average of 115 points a match last year, with Eltham (100) the only other side in triple figures.

“The quality of footballers in Division 1, it’s a very good competition and sides are getting better every year,” Dean said.

“The gap between the best in Division 2 and worst in first division, it’s pretty big.”

Dean said it was too simple to blame player wages for the difference between divisions, adding recruitment was an issue many Division 2 premiers faced.

“When you try and get new players into your club, what we see from past experience is you’re probably going to be fighting for last or second last position,” he said.

“It’s not really an attractive proposition for players going into your club.

“History shows it’s probably easier to get blokes into the easier competition in second division to try and be part of a finals series.

“The balancing act is keeping those blokes if you are lucky enough to win it.”

In some competitions, premiership success does not automatically result in promotion. In 2013, Glen Orden hammered Parkside by 43 points in the Western Region Football League Division 2 decider, but declined an offer to join the league’s top competition.