By Matt Fotia
The Blues brilliant leader, the inform Jets, a rising young Eagle, Doncaster East’s almost start and reward for hard work.
All this in this weeks In + Under.
1. Brilliant Billy
Croydon sent another message to the rest of Division One on Saturday, putting the then ladder leaders Mooroolbark to the sword in the second half to make it five wins in a row.
Riley Costantino continued his red hot start to the year with another haul of five off the back of his consistent and craft forward movement and nippy on-baller Andrew Carter was best afield, booting a couple of goals and providing plenty of drive for the Blues with his leg speed and agility.
But it was another midfielders performance that caught my eye, that of Billy Dickson, who reminds me a lot of Hawthorn (and Melbourne) champion Jordan Lewis.
Like Lewis, Dickson can sometimes go under the radar, with his no fuss approach to the game unlikely to draw attention, as he accumulates a mountain of the ball.
A left footer like the Premiership Hawk, Dickson always seems to have ample time with the ball in hand and more often than not picked out his teammates with an accurate – if not spell binding – pass.
Lewis had an innate ability to be in space at all times across his career and Dickson shared this trait on the weekend, often in the clear despite not having lightning pace, highlighting his high footballing IQ, whilst also showcasing his capacity to do the tough stuff when required.
The co-captain has now played 110 senior games for the Blues after debuting in 2012 and leads without unnecessary noise or showmanship and is enjoying one of his best seasons since coming to the Blues from the Wandin Junior Football Club.
He’s kicked six goals in 2021 and been in the best on four occasions, on track to best his 2019 season where he appeared nine times out of 19.
Billy Dickson might not be Croydon’s headline star – but he’s a key cog in a very impressive machine.
2. Doncaster East’s Enigma Season
Doncaster East currently sit eighth on the Premier Division ladder with one win from four attempts and a handy percentage of 105. A pretty respectable start to their debut season in the Premier Division right?
Well Steve Buckle and Co don’t like being just respectable and to be fair, they should be closer to 3-1 than 1-3.
The Lions are the number one ranked clearance side in the competition and lead all comers for Rebound 50’s per game. They’re also the number two contested mark team and number four for intercept marks.
Add onto this the manner of their losses and you’ll see where I’m coming from.
In Round One they lost to Blackburn by one point (78-79), despite having more inside 50’s and four more scoring shots.
They followed this with a convincing win over local rivals Doncaster before going down to North Ringwood in another thriller (95-98) giving away a six goal final term to the Saints to go down with one of the last kicks of the game.
This weekend was the first loss that they won’t be able to really complain about on paper, going down by 27 points to Norwood, but even then they had just two less scoring shots and won the uncontested ball against the highly rated Wooders.
With an average losing margin of 10.33 and a host of players with AFL or State League experience Doncaster East won’t be in any danger of dropping back down the division in 2021.
But the Lions ‘respectable’ start to 2021 might be the difference between squeezing into finals or finishing in eighth.
3. Jets preparing for take off
After starting their year 0-2 Heathmont are well and truly back amongst it in 2021, sitting 4-2 after four consecutive victories, with their young squad building some very handy momentum in the past month of Division Two football to jump back into the top four.
Much like The Basin, Heathmont build their game off of youthful exuberance and leg speed, with a spattering of experienced players keeping things tight. The Jets are now the number two ranked offence in the Division under Nick Rutley having put 469 points on the board, with 302 of those points having come in the last three weeks against Mulgrave, Templestowe and Boronia.
Joel Burleigh (4 Goals + 3 Times in Best over the last 4 weeks), Ryan Burleigh (5 + 3), Campbell Evans (2 + 2) and Jed Hansen (7 goals) have been a driving force behind this purple patch of form, hitting the scoreboard and standing up under pressure after the shaky start to the campaign.
With arguably the hardest draw in the Division (Heathmont play The Basin, South Belgrave, Boronia and Ringwood three times) maintaining momentum will be key for the Jets, especially across the next few weeks as they confront the other finals aspirants once again, but this time with a head of steam.
4. Ferntree Gully’s Flyer
Ferntree Gully head into their bye this weekend full of confidence, following another strong victory over an early season form side in East Burwood to sit atop the Division Three ladder with five wins and one loss.
Another reason for Eagles fans to smile is the shining light who’s pulled on the jumper a handful of times this year.
Eastern Ranges listed 18 year old Corey Preston has lit the Division up in his three appearances in 2021, so much so that he’s nominated for the mid-season draft. The mid-forward made his senior debut back in 2019 as a 16 year old after crossing to Wally Tew from the Bayswater Juniors a few years earlier and settled right into things, booting five majors against Chirnside Park in one of his few outings.
He’s taken that form in 2021, with 11 goals to his name from three games (hauls of 5, 3 + 3) and has been in the best players on each occasion. He’s not just doing it for Ferntree Gully either.
He booted 4.2 for Eastern Ranges against Calder Cannons in Round Two of the NAB League season to go with 18 disposals and in Round Four he collected another 18 touches, laid five tackles and had four inside 50’s as the Ranges took on the Tasmanian Devils.
If he’s not snapped up by a big league club this mid-season draft, he might be key to a Ferntree Gully flag assault.
5. Reward for Effort
It can be easy to take a shortcut in life and especially in sport.
Moving clubs is part and parcel of the game nowadays and when your club is struggling like Chirnside Park were, exodus’ aren’t uncommon. But for the people and players who stuck fat the weekend’s nail-biting win over Silvan was the first part of their reward, as the two seasons without a win for the folks down at Kimberley Reserve were a distant memory.
The club has kept working at its junior and women’s programs during this dark period for its Senior men and both of those are in strong positions, with their women’s program arguably one of the best in state, and it seems like 2021 might be the start of a re-birth for its Men’s program, with Saturday’s four point win putting the Panthers into the top four.
And for people like Steve Young – who played his 300th club game on the weekend – it is reward for effort.
Further up Maroondah Highway and almighty party took place though on Saturday Night, with the Croydon North MLOC KangaRams scoring their first ever win on the weekend, knocking off Nunawading in fairly easy fashion.
The KangaRams put the game to bed in the first half kicking 11 goals to none in the first half, before the game petered out.
Given the disappointing loss to Kilsyth in Round One, a loss here would’ve made it hard for the KangaRams to remain bullish about their clubs direction as chances for their first win became less and less.
But with a win now under their belt anything seems possible for the leagues youngest club and it’s a nod to everyone who’s put in the hard yards at Hughes Park, from Graham Hewitt and the committee to Mark Holly and his players.
Finals like success might be a while off still for the KangaRams, but they should be proud of what they’ve achieved to date.
