2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: Upper Ferntree Gully
by Maddi Vantarakis (@madvan_8)
WITH a long-awaited premiership now in the bag, South Belgrave is ready for the next level in 2014.
Going through the 2013 Division 4 season undefeated and clinching the Grand Final with a win in extra time over Forest Hill, was certainly one way to put the Saints back on the map.
Senior coach Dean Burnell says the aim of this season is to be competitive and begin to gain respect.
“We hope to be competitive first of all,” he said.
“We come in as being on the bottom of Division 3. Coming from Division 4 you start on the bottom. We’ve got to earn our respect in the division and it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.
“From all reports, it’s the most competitive division and it’s going to be hard.”
The Saints have definitely prepared well for the change, welcoming several star new recruits to their line-up this year.
Ex-Rowville forward Cody Morris, who last year’s Division 1 runner-up for most goals, will lead the charge.
“If all indications are correct – and they seem to be that way – he [Morris] is going to be very hard to stop,” said Burnell.
“There’s some terrific form and quality in Division 3 and he’s going to be equal to the other footballers running around.”
MORE RECRUITS
The club is also very excited with the acquisition of Ayden Sukkel, who has come across from Nunawading.
And Burnell can’t stop singing his praises.
“His nickname’s ‘Chief’ and he is an aerobic beast!” Burnell said.
“That’s probably the best way to describe him. He used to be a lifesaver and he can do anything! He doesn’t like coming second and he’s been an absolute standout.
“All recruits have fitted in fantastically to our club.”
Burnell says the thought behind the recruiting process ultimately came down to an increase in running speed.
“We’ve sort of identified that we’re a little bit slow on the outside last year, so we’ve recruited about three or four guys that will help us with our speed,” he said.
The 2013 Division 4 Blue Ribbon Medal winner, Leigh Odermatt, says the pre-season has worked well, allowing the new recruits to adapt at South Belgrave.
“It’s been good, a lot of new faces to spice it up again,” he said.
“All the recruits have trained very hard, so it’s good to keep pretty much the core group and to add some more very good players as well.”
TIGHT DIV 3
Odermatt believes the real challenge in Division 3 will be evenness of the competition.
“It’s a mini-final every week,” he said.
“Unlike Division 4 you can’t give a bit of lean-way to teams and then maybe peg it back later in the day. If you give everyone a bit of a go in Division 3, you won’t be able to claw back.”
This is reflected in Burnell’s general message to the team through training.
“We’ve really been harping on the fact that you’ve really got to be on your game every week in Division 3,” Odermatt said.
“Some games in Division 4 when you know you’ve got a really strong team, you can sort of rock up and maybe know you can get away with murder.
“Here, every week you just got to be on your game, otherwise you’re going to get torn up by some very good teams like Wantirna South, Boronia and Mitcham…”
Burnell agrees.
“You look at Mitcham’s forward line and Wantirna South, and you go ‘holy golly’!” he said.
“But we’ve got a really solid defence. We’ve probably got three or four of our guys that were in team of the year the last couple of years from our back half.”
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It seems that Burnell and his men are ready for 2014.
“There is a great saying, ‘with expectation comes disappointment’ and I expect our group to be really competitive,” he said.
“I don’t see us being ‘easy beats’ by any stretch of the imagination.”
South Belgrave begins its campaign in Division 3 against Upper Ferntree Gully at Belgrave South Recreation Reserve on Saturday 5 April.
