By Josh Ward.
It all started to click for Wantirna South last year who’ll look to go even further in Division One in 2023.
2022 marked the first finals appearance for the Devils in six years, finishing fifth with 10 wins. However, their season came to an end in the first week of the postseason, going down by 11 points to Montrose.
With Steve Cochrane stepping down after four years at the helm Wantirna South turned to two-time North Ringwood premiership coach Brett Moyle to replace his former interleague coach.
It’s been four years since Moyle took on a coaching role, recently saying that what most attracted him to the Walker Reserve was the established culture.
“It’s a benefit for me that the people who have been at the club previously have built that (culture) and I get to try and build on it further,” Moyle said.
“That was part of the lure of Wantirna South as a job for me, I think the club is in a good position and has been really well coached for the last few years (by Cochrane).”
With Bailey Cowman the only big name to depart to division rivals Mitcham, Moyle said that it was a major positive that the majority of the squad had signed on for 2023.
“It’s a good sign for me (seeing) that the guys are keen to say.
“Coming in it’s obvious that the group is close as well. You don’t win games because you’re good blokes and you’re best mates, but it doesn’t hurt either.”
He’ll also be bolstered by many inclusions to the side, with Devils Team of the Decade members Taylor Leggate and Sean Young plus Jimmy Sarinn returning to the club.
“(I could) see with the friendships those guys have with the guys that are in the existing playing group that they’ve been welcomed back,” Moyle said.
“I don’t think it’s any accident that three guys that left, had a look somewhere and then decided to come back.”
Ex-Wantirna South junior Lachlan Bain has also signed on from Balwyn alongside ex-Forest Hill midfielder Michael Casey from Queensland side Coorparoo, Jake Harper from Ferntree Gully and Ricky Fandrich from NFNL side Northcote Park.
“Fandrich and Casey are older, mature footy players who’ve played a lot of senior footy, that’s a really good thing for us.
“Jake’s got plenty of speed and has played senior footy at Ferntree Gully for a couple of years, so we’ve brought in guys who are senior players.
“And Lachlan Bain, whilst he left, had a good career and was a premiership player at Balwyn maybe he’s got some really strong friendships and connections from his time as an Under 18/19 player at Wantirna South and that’s what’s drawn him back at the backend for him.”
With the extra depth added to an already deep side, Moyle believes it’ll hold the Devils in good stead this coming season.
“I think we’re definitely looking pretty good, what that equates to that’ll depend on how many games we can win during the year.
“Our depth also helps with that as well because every club experiences injuries in June, July, and August and you have to find a way to win games when you haven’t got your best side out there.
“During that time we’re gonna have plenty of guys who are really good senior players who maybe don’t start in our senior side (initially).”
2023 will also see the introduction of a senior women’s side at Wantirna South following five years of having a junior women’s program.
Caz Tierney, the head of the women’s football operations at the club has played a key role in starting up the first senior women’s team through her role with the Junior club.
“It’s probably been two years of a discussion because we knew these girls this year didn’t have a pathway after,” Tierney said.
“We knew once these girls were done, the senior club wasn’t offering them a pathway, so it’s been discussed for two years.”
Over the last year, the club started to put together everything they needed to build Wantirna South’s first senior women’s team.
“Last year, we really pushed and really started putting everything on the table and who could coach, who was going up and all the girls that go up, would that be enough to make a team?
“We had enough interest, and the girls were super keen and really wanted it.”
The women’s program at Wantirna South has grown impressively over time, with great numbers through the junior club.
“We only had one team for a couple of years and now we’ve got under 10’s, two under 12’s (teams), under 16’s, under 18’s and senior women.”
“So we’ve come along in leaps and bounds… so we’ve done really well to keep the girls.”
The side will be led by ex-AFL umpire Michael Vozzo who recently said that the hard work of building a junior women’s program has paid off.
“Six years ago we didn’t have a female team at all at the club and through the hard work of a few people in particular, Rhonda McMillan, Ian Semple and Travis Branson we were able to get a junior female team up,” Vozzo said.
“Now we’ve had that progression right through our junior club where we’ve got seven or eight teams this year.
“We needed to finalise that pathway so we needed to start up the senior women’s team. It’s been a long road but it’s been very worthwhile.”
Vozzo already has a strong connection with the girls having coached in the junior program since its inaugural season, saying that he felt the Under 18 girls were ready to take the leap to the senior level.
“These girls have grown and developed themselves, a lot of them have gotten a lot stronger, they’ve got three to four years of football experience under their belt now.
“The fact that we’re actively recruiting a couple of girls with senior playing experience is gonna hopefully hold us in good stead going into our first season.”
That pre-established connection with the girls was why Vozzo was asked to be the inaugural Wantirna South women’s coach.
“I had a couple of little health concerns last year, which I worked through. Wantirna South we’re across it all and they’ve been unbelievably supportive.
“They spoke to me about taking on the role this year. We thought we’d be another year away, but we’ve brought it up a year forward and I’m looking forward to it.”
With a young and new senior women’s side at his disposal, Vozzo’s primary goal for the side this season is to establish itself in the senior women’s competition.
“We’re looking forward to dipping our feet into the water and getting ourselves established so that when we get the Under 18 girls through next year we’re gonna be stronger and probably give them some game time this year.
“If we get ourselves up and running and continue our improvement, who knows what sort of level we’ll play at this year.”
