2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: Mooroolbark
by Victoria Halkias (@VictoriaMLH)
BORONIA has been a strong, consistent side in Division 3 for a number of years, always playing a competitive and aggressive game.
After a spectacular home and away season in 2013, the Hawks finished third on the ladder, only to be bailed out in straight sets with losses to Mitcham and Wantirna South in the finals – a tough blow to recover from.
But 2014 is all about putting the past behind them and focusing on the future.
The Hawks hit the training track with intensity in November 2013 and haven’t looked back since.
“We’re treating it as a new year,” defender Jess Bolton said.
“We’re trying not to dwell on it [the past] so much. We’ve just got on with our training.”
Coach Marc Hardy seems very optimistic about the season ahead and is determined to make amends for the end to 2013, with a few changes being made for the better.
“Hopefully we’ve improved our personnel, which is really important,” he said.
“The pre-season has been fairly long. We’ve worked really hard on our fitness. We just felt that we didn’t run games out last year, which was probably evident in finals.”
The Hawks are a young side, which some may say is a disadvantage.
However they have rounded out their team nicely, adding a few new, exciting faces into the mix that are sure to bolster their overall performance.
“Hopefully we can get a lot out of these guys,” Hardy excitedly said.
“We’ve picked up the Jackson brothers [Matt and Cameron] from Rowville, They’ve been excellent and added a lot of experience and enthusiasm to our group.”
“Nick Carrodus from Vermont has been going really well. Obviously being from a Division 1 club, the level of experience and professionalism has been super.”
Bolton is particularly excited by the inclusion of Carrodus.
“An area we probably lacked last year was a little bit of height, so Nick’s come in as a ruckman for us,” he said.
“The two Jackson boys are a great addition to help the strength of our team.”
Along with the new recruits, the Hawks have some exciting young players working their way to the top. Hardy says they are ones to watch this season and into the future.
“Jordan Begg, Zach Callinan and Lachlan MacDonald are all around 19-years-old and are really quick. They’re looking pretty exciting at the moment, so hopefully they can sneak under the radar and play some good footy,” Hardy said.
If past performance is anything to go by, 2014 is going to be a challenging year in Division 3, with several clubs vying for top spot.
“I think every single team is going to be hard and tough to come up against,” Hardy admitted.
“I don’t think we can worry too much about the opposition, we just worry about what we’re doing.
“If we get our things where we want them and get them right and keep educating our players, we’ll go a fair way I think.”
Bolton feels that the teams to beat this year will be similar to last season,
“It’s hard to go past Mitcham and Wantirna South. They are two major opponents. I think Heathmont will be pretty competitive this year also,” he said.
Regardless of what lies ahead this year the whole team appears to be focused on achieving a spot in finals so they can push for the flag.
“Definitely our goal again is making finals. If we can achieve that then once we make finals we’ll take it game by game and prepare as we need to,” Bolton stated.
Hardy remarked that come the end of the season, he wants to be on top of the podium.
“I think the club has been round about the mark for a few years now,” he said.
“Injuries withstanding, I think we can push right for a Grand Final. That’s what we’re aiming for!”