By Matt Fotia
One club, two different premierships?
That’s the aspirations for Whitehorse in 2022 as this new fully merged club looks to build off some strong pre-season momentum in this year’s EFNL season.
The Whitehorse men finished down the bottom half of the Division Three ladder in 2022 but were not that far off the pace.
The Pioneers started the year with glimpses of finals football, matching some of the Division’s best sides for large periods of time, losing by 33 points to East Burwood – who have since been promoted to Division Two -, 22 points to the Waverley Blues and 34 points to Ferntree Gully.
Since the 2021 season concluded the Pioneers have been hot on the transfer front, signing a number of players from higher divisions – including a few from Premier Division outfit Park Orchards – headlined by former Blackburn and Whitefriars midfielder Jake Harkins.
Second year coach Duncan Jones says the Pioneers were looking for new midfield depth when they began dipping their toe into the recruiting pool.
“We did a list analysis at the end of the season and broke our list down into defenders, forwards and midfielders and tried to identify holes,” said Jones who became senior coach just under a month out from the 2021 season.
“We realised we needed some midfield depth and were able to target Jake Harkins and James Fasan and tried to get them in as quickly as possible,
“From there it’s been word of mouth and we’ve been able to pick up players from here and there who are wanting to try and better themselves and their football and we’re happy to offer that opportunity to them.”
Harkins is the obvious marquee signing down at Springfield Park and Jones says that he’s already had an impact on the group without kicking a ball in anger.
“He’s been vocal and gives a lot of feedback and it’s always good to have a different voice – who’s played in the Premier Division – because when he speaks guys tend to listen,
“He brings that experience and knowledge down to our level where most of the guys haven’t had that exposure before.”
Several factors contributed to Whitehorse’s poor showing in 2021 according to Jones.
Along with a late change in coach, the repeated lockdowns meant training and football itself became more and more of a chore for the Pioneers players and it began to show on the field.
Jones hopes some fresh faces and a fresh game plan will help eradicate some of those underlying issues.
“Last season was a bit of a mess.
“It was more of a mental issue with the guys, they weren’t really enjoying their football, so 2021 was about trying to get them to enjoy their football again, whilst also trying to instil a game plan,”
“We think bringing some of these players will not only close the gap talent wise, but also increase the level of training to where it needs to be and get guys enjoying their football again.”
It won’t be any old game plan either.
Jones has linked up with Vermont premiership coach Harmit Singh over the off-season to help define his philosophy and set out the best way of communicating it to his players.
“I worked with Harmit Singh for six or so weeks (over the off-season) and catching up with him helped me put together a pre-season program that will help get the best out of my guys,
“Sitting down with him and going over how we want to move the football and how I’m going to coach it to these guys,
“Trying to break it down to the fundamentals and get them working towards something that’s going to be familiar for them.”
With a new set of faces and a new and improved game plan, Whitehorse are set to jump up the Division Three ladder and their coach isn’t putting a ceiling on how high they can jump.
“I feel there’s three tiers in Division Three,
“You’ve got your Warrandyte’s and Donvale’s that are your top tier teams, then Waverley Blues and Ferntree Gully in that second tier,
“Then there’s the next five, which is us, Glen Waverley, Scoresby, Coldstream and Fairpark, so it’s a really even competition
“So, with the players we’ve bought in and the way we’ve been training, I feel that we’re going to be aiming for a top two finish.”
It’s been an equally busy off-season for the Whitehorse women, who have moved away from their previous title, the Whitehorse Suns, and joined forces with the Whitehorse men to become one club.
Add in a couple of new faces and it’s made the 2022 pre-season feel a little bit different according to experienced star Bronte Bilston.
“It’s been quite a good pre-season,” said Bilston speaking in place of coach Dom Tallariti.
“We’ve had a bit of a change in structure, with Abbey coming on board as Assistant coach and there’s a fair few new girls down at the club as well, which has given it a bit more variety and a bit of a different feel,
“We’ve been pulling together and with some practice matches coming up, hopefully it’ll all pay off throughout the season.”
Both groups have trained together regularly throughout the pre-season and Bilston says it has provided both sets of players the opportunity to grow both as footballers and as people.
“When we train with the men, there’s obviously a larger number of them on the track, so just their drive when are they doing drills and their refined skills is something we pick up on,
“For them they probably just learn to appreciate women in sport and a lot of them are big advocates for that and for us.
“Plus, we like to show them up a little bit as well whenever we can.”
Whitehorse began 2021 in the Premier Division, after finishing runners up to a dominant Chirnside Park outfit in 2019 but were moved back into Division One after the opening month or so of the season, where they found their level finishing third, with a 57%-win ratio.
They’ll be joined in ‘Premier B’ this season by Chirnside Park and Bilston is expected by the prospect of coming up against their old foe once again.
“I think any club that we come up against has their own challenges, so every time we step out onto the field it’s about playing our best and playing as a team and as a club,
“We’ve been fortunate to join up with the boys and they get around us a fair bit and I know Chirnside have that same sort of set up.”
Despite that empathetic view of her opposition and their possible plights, Bilston still has her eyes on the prize in 2022.
“We would love to be a premiership team, but I think at the base it’s for us to play as one in every game and developing as a club.”