By Ryan Long.
The dominant Division Three premiers are ready to take on their next big challenge, entering the Division Two competition in season 2023.
After losing their Round One clash to Warrandyte last year, the Waverley Blues went undefeated for the rest of the season to claim the Division Three premiership.
Senior Coach Tom Langford was thrilled with the end result of what was a difficult couple of years of interruptions.
“Coming off the two covid impacted seasons, we felt like we were ready to go and had built a team that was ready to challenge,” Langford said.
The club have made significant positive growth over the recent years which has made the club a great place to be at.
“There’s been a real change in the air, we got the promotion which the club was desperate for, there’s been some significant growth off the field, commercial pending new facilities at the club,
“The return of women senior footy at our club, the first time we’ve ever had a veterans team and we’ll be fielding two under 19 teams,
“All of those different things allow you to sit back and reflect and say these are direct outcomes of the amazing times we’ve had and the strong program we’ve built.”
Coming into the 2023 season, competition in Division Two, the Waverley Blues will be looking to replicate what East Burwood was able to achieve last year, making a Preliminary Final in their first season after being promoted.
Over the off-season, there’s been plenty of focus on retaining the young premiership list, many of which will look to improve over the following years.
“The real key for us is to keep our list together, two reasons why, the average age of the grand final side was only 24 and when you add in a 35-year-old like me, that massively inflates that average,
“We believe that the natural progression and growth of our players as they come towards the prime of their footy careers is really important, so we expect a fair bit of improvement there,
“We also had our 19s team last year play in Premier Division, there are half a dozen guys at least in that team that’s really gunning for selection so I’m really big on not blocking that pathway.”
While looking at further young talent to recruit into the side, Waverley has also brought across a couple of key experienced players, adding further leadership to the group.
“We’ve signed Chris Duck who at 30 years of age has won a couple of senior best and fairests.
“We’ve also signed Chris Diggle who’s spent three years at Frankston VFL, a renowned leader and he’s a great player but most importantly, fills the leadership void we’re looking for.
When analysing the performances of the Waverley Blues last year, there was a lot of talk about their forward line structure. The side was able to put teams to the sword, part of that due to a number of options up forward led by last year’s recruit, Josh Williamson who booted 57 goals for the season.
But the side was just as strong in the back half.
This was highlighted by the experienced Ben Turner’s role on Grand Final Day last year, winning the best on-ground medal for his performance.
The defensive set-up behind the ball with particularly their key defenders is something Langford has highlighted as the side’s biggest strength.
“Jack Strongman being the anchor, taking the opposition’s best tall each week, we had him down not losing a battle last year,
“When you have defensive players who win their one-on-ones, it means you can play an aggressive style of play on offence,
“Having Strongy (Strongman) have an unbelievable season, Sammy Hale as a third tall, Ben Turner, the acquisition of Chris Diggle,
“We believe we have a really strong foundation of defensive-minded backs that can impact the contest in the air and that’s a real huge part of the way we want to play.”
The standard of footy once again improves at the Division Two level where they’ll face off against dominant sides such as Ringwood who have been the benchmark over the last five years.
Langford has identified a key area of their game that they’ve looked at focusing on, in preparation for the new division.
“We want to use the ball better, our run and gun sort of game was able to lead to a lot of high scores and some pretty sort of footy on the eye,
“We think at times our disposal by foot let us down, we have spent a lot of time working on that part of our game,
“We still want to be attacking, still want to be a team that’s fun to watch and fun to play in but we want to make sure we’re minimising turnover.”
Although Langford acknowledges the hurdles the side will face this season with the new division having the extra two games and no byes unlike Division Three last year, he still believes in the ability of the current list to make a real impact this season.
“We’ll set the bar pretty high and have a high level of expectation.
“We believe we’ve got the talent on our list that will stack up really well in the division.”
The side took to the field in Round One to unfurl the flag at home against Templestowe.
In a tight contest, Waverley held on for a 12-point win against a worthy opponent to start the year with the four points.
The Waverley Blues will also feature a Senior Women’s side once again, returning to the Deakin University Senior Women’s Competition.
Clint Martin heads to the club, coming across from Kilsyth to be the senior coach of the side.
“I used to play at Waverley Blues so I still had some contacts there and I reached out to them and was lucky enough to get the role,”
“Waverley Blues didn’t have a women’s side for a couple of years, because of covid and things and resuming and restarting their women’s team appealed to me.”
Martin also brings across Felicity Neligan from Kilsyth with him. As a league best and fairest winner, Neligan will take on a playing Assistant Coach role for the club.
“A wealth of experience, she’s only 20-something years old but she’s a club best and fairest four times over, a league’s best and fairest,
“So this year, it was important with a new team to bring someone the girls could relate to and she can fit into all areas, players with lots of experience, players that she needs to mentor, players that have been playing for a couple of years.”
Martin is excited with the group they’ve been able to put together this year, with a mix of experience and girls giving the game a go for each division.
“We’ve got a bit of everything, 18s that have come up from last year, five or six that have come across from Kilsyth with me and five that have come across from Blackburn,
“We’ve got a mix of age, some girls that player junior footy, some that have played senior footy, and a couple that haven’t played any footy at all, but the numbers are fantastic.”
The recruits that they have managed to bring across are ones that Martin thinks will have an immediate impact on the team.
“Two girls that have come across from Blackburn, Claudia Walsh, she’s a small midfielder and Renae James from Blackburn.
Annalese Capomolia has also had a fantastic pre-season, coming from a soccer background.
“Really impressed with her skills, considering in soccer you don’t handball the ball, you can see she’s picked it up really easy, I think she’s going to do really well.”
Martin’s move to the Waverley Blues, a club he was once a part of has been successful thus far.
He has been left very impressed with the way everything is run on and off the field with the club thriving in all areas.
“What’s impressed me is the professionalism of how it’s run and also the positivity in relation of all teams, not just the women’s but the juniors right up and into their 19s, the reserves, men’s and women’s.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of support because they even have a separate committee for their women’s program which is great.”
Martin’s goal as the senior coach of the senior women’s side is simple, to restart the program and allow the girls’ to play and develop.
“At the end of the day, it’s for me to provide women an avenue to enjoy their football and that’s what I want to get out of this year.”