DDCA: Beaconsfield’s Mark Cooper has outlined how the club plans to remain a Turf 1 club

The past two DDCA Turf 2 premiers have had brief stays in Turf 1 but Beaconsfield’s Mark Cooper is hopeful his modest approach will buck the trend in 2023-24. See how he plans to attack the top tier.

Beaconsfield will join Dandenong District’s Turf 1 with the utmost respect for those who have dictated the competition for so long.

After beating Cranbourne in the 2022-23 Turf 2 grand final, the Tigers prepare to launch into Turf 1 – in place of Parkmore Pirates – in 2023-24.

Parkmore, like Narre Warren from the summer before, fell from Turf 1 after just one season.

Tigers’ captain-coach Mark Cooper admits he is aware of the looming trend of Turf 2 premiers and says to combat it his side won’t act as though they will enter the top-flight and make immediate impact.

Instead, he expects it will take time for his group to adapt to the sizeable standard difference.

“I would like to say ‘have a crack’ but I think that’s what every other team has said in the past,” Cooper says.

“I think we need to be really careful with that and control what we can’t control.

“Having a crack, people look at that through wins and losses a lot of the time, for us coming up, respecting the clubs that have been there for 30, 40 years, you’re not going to come up and get wins against them straight away.

“Being competitive and being in the game for long periods of time is our focus and if that means we can snatch a win here and there, then that’s great for our group.

“If you took me out of the group, being the old person, the average age was probably 21, 22 mark, which is far too young moving up, probably.

“But we’re excited by the opportunity, hopefully teaching them a lot of the game to be able to step up again in a couple of years’ time, I guess that’s a part of the sustainability model.”

Beaconsfield Turf 2 premiers

One aspect Cooper says he will try and implement is a greater competition for spots, using Beaconsfield’s extensive junior program as an advantage.

“It’s definitely a great challenge and a great proposition,” he says.

“I would like to think our club is structurally set up well, with a huge junior program, as well as I guess the senior structure with five or six teams.

“Hopefully that can hold us in good stead if we’re able to stay up for a long period of time, sustainability is definitely something we have looked at.

“We have looked at how we can improve our list with what’s available out there, to recruit and create more challenge for spots and competitiveness we are going to need to step up.”

Callan Tout bowling during the DDCA v VTCA representative game in February. Picture: Andy Brownbill

On the recruiting front, the Tigers have added Trishane De Silva and Kevin Seth, who — according to Cooper — fits the direction of where the Tigers want to go.

“We recruited Thishane De Silva, he has played a bit at Dandenong and was at Rowville for the second half of last year,” he said.

“He plays footy at Beaconsfield, so it was a really good one for us, he’s a good left-arm quick, all-rounder.

“We identified we needed a bit more pace going up the standard to combat some of the opening combinations of opposition.

“Again, he will bring youth and exuberance to the group, he will be quite raw, which is great for me as captain-coach to help mould him and the group.

“We also got Kevin Seth, who we played against last year… he’s had district experience, we’re sort of going that district experience and youth to match in with our culture.”