2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: South Croydon
by Dan Campbell (@DC_Sting)
THE upward spiral of The Basin continued in 2013.
Premiers after an undefeated season in Division 4 in 2012, the Bears clawed their way up the Division 3 ranks last season and into the ‘Choose Tap’ finals. They finished fifth after a first-week exit at the hands of Mitcham.
But after such a rise up the EFL ranks, where to from here for the Bears?
Senior Coach Michael Glassborow says the message is simple: to take the next step to improve.
“We’re pretty keen at the footy club to make sure now that we take that next step and go a little bit higher up. We believe that we’re good enough to challenge if we can get our things right,” Glassborow said.
“We’re definitely looking to improve on last year, that’s for sure. That’s the whole reason we keep rocking up and doing this stuff is to improve.”
The Bears have been active recruiters during the off-season, luring Matt Price and Aaron Brown (Coldstream), Michael Cardamone (Forest Hill), James Roach (Lilydale) and Justin Dight (Bayswater) to the Bear Cave.
NEW HOME FOR “CARDEZ”
One of the most flamboyant and damaging players of the 2013 Division 4 ‘Choose Tap’ finals series, Cardamone joins the club from the Zebras in a seamless transition to Division 3.
“I’ve fitted in really well. It’s been really good [to] get to know all the boys, just training hard and looking forward to the season,” he said.
Cardamone’s decision to move to Batterham Reserve was heavily influenced by future senior coaching aspirations, aided by The Basin’s desire for a playing-assistant coach in 2014.
“I got an opportunity to be an assistant coach in a divvy three club and I want to coach my own team in the future, so I thought it was just a stepping stone I needed to take.”
The heartbreak of last season’s nail-biting Division 4 ‘Choose Tap’ Grand Final, won by South Belgrave in extra-time, serves as a driving force for the former Zebra this season.
“I’ve never won a senior flag, so I’ll do anything I can to get success. I think we’ve recruited pretty well at The Basin, so we’re looking forward to it,” Cardamone said.
And Cardamone is already gelling well with other fellow new recruits, including six-time league Best and Fairest winner Price.
“Roachy’s a pretty big unit and Pricey’s all class. We make a few jokes and say ‘congratulations on your four best and fairests’, but he [Price] quickly stomps it on the head and tells us he’s had six,” Cardamone joked.
BIG LOSS
While the star-studded recruits have filed into Batterham Reserve this off-season, the loss of gun forward and leading goalkicker Brent Gallichio, yet significant, balances out nicely as the Bears look for flexibility this season.
“Brent was fantastic for the footy club and had to move closer to home with a young family,” coach Glassborow said.
“In one way it’s a loss, but in another way we’re fairly confident with what we’ve recruited. Guys like Matty Price, Cardamone and guys like that can all play through there at times which, is going to make us fairly dangerous and unpredictable.
“Roach will play down [forward] and we’ve got a few others as well that we think will probably give us a bit more flexibility. We can go tall and small and it’s a lot easier trying to get our balance right,” he said.
BIGGEST THREATS
Flexibility and unpredictability could well serve as potent secret weapons in the Bears’ arsenal in a season shaping to be another even contest for Division 3’s Holy Grail.
“I think it’s going to be pretty even. You’ve got Mitcham that are right up there and Wantirna South, then you can throw a blanket over about six or seven sides,” Cardamone said.
But in a Division 3 season which promises such clockwork regularity of exciting, close contests, just how far can the Bears climb again this season?
“This year’s definitely to finish in the top three. It’s pretty hard to win it from fourth or fifth, but if we finish top three, I’ll back us,” Cardamone said.
And the senior coach is certainly not shying away from his side making a statement on Division 3 again this season.
“We believe we can win it from fifth. That’s the reality that we think, on our day, we’re as good as anybody,” Glassborow said.
“We’d like to finish top three, but our first priority is to make sure we play finals. If we win enough games, we’ll get there,” Glassborow said.