By Josh Ward
After missing out on finals by just five percent in 2019, the Dockers will look to rebuild heading into the 2021 season.
Entering its 10th consecutive season in the third tier of the EFNL, Templestowe will look to forget about what happened in the past, despite a poor transfer window where they lost the likes of top goalkicker Daniel Arangio and winger Joseph Ugle.
The Dockers have been there or thereabouts across the past four to five years, becoming perennial contenders. 2019 saw them become the losers out of a league re-structure which saw their Division become a top four, not a top five.
As is the case with any side that hovers around the mark for a significant period of time, the cycle looks to have come to an end, with the 2020 non-season proving the final circuit breaker.
Senior coach Craig De Corsey said recently that one of the biggest challenges they faced was keeping their playing list from 2019 together.
“That year off footy a lot of players opted to move back to their home state. We had a lot of interstate players that moved back closer to their families. Footy wasn’t their main priority anymore.”
De Corsey realistically also accepts that it could be a challenge to play finals footy this year after coming so close in 2019 due to all these losses.
“There has been number of outs over the course of the last 12 months and not too many ins coming in. We definitely know it’s going to be a challenge to play finals.”
But it has had its benefits, with many of their younger players getting games and experience into them.
“I look at our side as mainly under-23, 24. So it’s going to be a real positive letting those guys play footy this year. Guys like Mark Palozzi, Callum Bradley and Cameron Williams are probably the three that have stood out in pre-season.”
Templestowe, like many other teams last year, did also have its challenges when it came to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“When it first all went down, we tried to keep in contact just because we didn’t know what was going to happen and whether our season was going to get up and going in 2020. So we made sure the boys were trying to keep fit and active and things like that.
“But then once the season was cancelled, and we knew nothing was going to happen we just left them alone and just checked in every so often if we had an update or just to see the welfare of the players.”
COVID did have its benefits though for the Dockers, with the team able to field an Under 19 side following an Under 19-less season in 2019.
“We haven’t been able to do that from a consistent basis over the last couple of years. That’s been a positive to be able to get an Under-19 side out on the park.”
Templestowe begin their 2021 season against 2019 Division Two Runner Up Ringwood at home on Saturday 10th April.