2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: Doncaster East
by Dan Campbell (@DC_Sting)
UNIQUE traits are common-place for football clubs and Division 1 is no different.
From large, glistening trophy rooms to breathtaking city views of the leafy inner-East, no two clubs are identical.
But very few clubs epitomise a unanimous vision of embracing and developing home-grown talent quite like Rowville.
Described by president David Howlett as “one club, one culture”, it is this unanimous vision that helped attract new senior coach Peter Bastinac to the club.
“That was the reason that I was interested in the Rowville job,” he said.
A dual premiership coach at Pearcedale and former defensive and forward coach of the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, Bastinac is no stranger to quality traits in football clubs.
Commitment has been one of the key elements of Bastinac’s first pre-season in charge.
“I’ve been impressed with the whole club and the players, in particular, have done everything I’ve asked. We’ve been averaging about 50 or 60 players [at training] from day one. Everyone that plays Round 1 will be ready to go,” he said.
One man who has grown and developed among the golden plains of Seebeck Oval, Cody Morris, has transferred to South Belgrave.
Bastinac believes the 2012 premiership spearhead’s departure has allowed for the key strength of the game-plan – unpredictability.
“We’ll be looking at multiple goal-kickers – that’s the strength of my game-plan anyway. We’re not going to rely on one player. It’s going to be all about team balance and playing the team role,” he said.
“I’d expect to have a lot of goalkickers each week. Already through the pre-season we’ve had two ‘praccy’ games – first week we had seven different goalkickers and last week we had about 12. So there’s going to be a spread there.”
This year, the EFL welcomes back the 2008 Wright Medallist Matt Robinson, who has joined the Hawks from the Ellinbank and District Football League.
After a minor hiccup in the pre-season, Robinson is raring to go for Round 1, although Bastinac believes it may take time to readjust to the EFL.
“Robbo’s been solid – he had a bit of a setback a few weeks ago but he’s up and running now,” Bastinac said.
“He’s going to take a couple of weeks to adjust to the standard of footy again. But we’ll give him a bit of time. Everyone knows what we can do, and we’ll be expecting him to have a big season.”
Notably, the Hawks have also recruited a duo of brothers from Scoresby: Jarrod and Ryan Hicks, along with Adam and Ben Bronsgeest migrating up Stud Road.
All four men are no strangers to Division 1, as the Hawks look to again meet its rigorous challenges.
The 2013 season presented the challenge of Division 1 football to the Hawks – a gauntlet which has claimed many scalps over the years.
But Rowville’s promotion to the league’s premier division saw the club narrowly miss out on the ‘Choose Tap’ finals series.
“Considering that Rowville didn’t have their home ground for the whole of the season and had to travel away every week to compete at that level, be consistent and nearly play finals, it’s been an outstanding effort by the club. I’m just hoping to continue on from where they left off last year and maybe go that next year and play finals,” Bastinac said.
“But obviously every other team in the competition is trying to improve as well and we know it’s going to be a tough year.”
New coaches often face the yardstick of comparison of their predecessors from the external army of keen pundits.
However, Bastinac knows the legacy left by former senior coach and close friend Paul Mynott, which he hopes can be built upon to ensure the Hawks a sustainable future in Division 1.
“I’m very close to Paul Mynott, so we’re old team mates from way back. We’ve kept a relationship from our ‘Dandy’ [Dandenong] days. He’s done an outstanding job and he’s part of the reason I’m at Rowville,” Bastinac said.
“I’m not expecting to surpass anything he’s achieved so far, I think that’d be foolish. I’m just hoping to help improve the club, the players on the list and be consistent performers in divvy one. To consolidate our position in divvy one would be my goal anyway.”
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Rowville will also be rekindling its rivalry with Montrose in 2014, after the Demons’ promotion to Division 1 following their 2013 Division 2 premiership.
After meeting in the 2012 Division 2 Grand Final – the Hawks triumphed by 12 points – the players cannot wait to renew pleasantries with a close nemesis.
“The boys have pencilled that round in, so we look forward to that challenge when it arrives,” Bastinac said.
Such eagerness to battle its foe will have to wait until Round 7 however, as Rowville travels to Terrara Road to take on Vermont in Round 1.