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By: Daniel Cencic
Twitter: @DC_EFL
A new era is being ushered in at Tormore Reserve, spearheaded by new Boronia senior coach Matt Clark.
The former Wantirna South mentor, who coached the Devils to the 2014 Division 2 premiership, was appointed in September and will be assisted by AFL Victoria’s coaching development manager Steve Teakel and long-time Hawks assistant Drew O’Hare.
For Clark, the transition has been seamless as the club’s young list has him excited for the year ahead.
“I really didn’t know any of the players or any of the committee or anything when I took the role on and it’s been a really good challenge, one that I was excited about because they are a young list,” Clark said.
“We’ve been working really hard over the pre-season, they’re a fit team by nature, it was really just fine-tuning a few of the defensive aspects of their game and make sure everyone was clear on a game-plan that we wanted to play.”
PICTURE: Steve Teakel (left) with Matt Clark (right).
Boronia missed the Division 3 finals last season in dramatic fashion, falling to Templestowe by 10 points in the dying stages of its Round 18 home and away clash to finish sixth.
Clark believes the players’ motivation this season goes well beyond the disappointing end to their 2017 campaign.
“They’re hungry to achieve and they’re hungry to go as well as they can, and that’s the thing that excites me – no one game is a motivation – they want to play at the pointy end of the season and they want to play finals,” he said.
“Finishing sixth at the end of the season, when you do all the work, they were really disappointed.
“They were able to beat the top sides when they were going well, and certainly lost to the sides that were down near the bottom including a draw against East Burwood and a couple of others along the way.”
The Hawks have welcomed back former club captain Matt Buzinskas, who last played for the club in 2015.
The strong-bodied midfielder spent season 2016 playing for Watsonia in the Northern Football League, winning the club’s best and fairest in a premiership year, where he was also named in the NFL’s Division 3 Team of the Year, before transferring to Wantirna South for 2017 under the tutelage of Clark.
Former club junior Brayden Bowes (pictured) has also returned to the Hawks.
Bowes debuted for Silvan at age 16, subsequently winning two under-19s best and fairests with the club along with the senior best and fairest in 2016. Bowes also played in the Cats’ 2014 Division 4 premiership side as a 17-year-old.
The duo haven’t missed a beat since re-joining the club.
“There are some gaps around body size that we wanted to build depth in (and) Brayden Bowes, from the moment he’s come on board, has been an absolute revelation,” Clark said.
“He shows leadership, he’s a really strong, big body and he’s as fit as anyone at the club.
“He can play forward, back or midfield (and) we’re excited at what he can deliver – he’s a really competitive beast.”
“(Matt Buzinskas) is a Boronia footballer through and through – it’s good to have him back at the club, he’s a really strong body and cracks in really hard.
“He’s a goalkicking mid, and we’ll try and use him in that role where he does play midfield for us but has potential to go forward and be second or third in the goalkicking list.
“He knows how to crumb, good one-on-one, and he certainly knows how to kick a goal too.”
With a young list at his disposal, Clark is adamant age will not be used as an excuse this season.
“I think sometimes the age gets used as an excuse more than anything,” he said.
“No-one’s ticking birth certificates when we run onto the ground, no matter what you are, if we think you’re ready to play, you’ve got to earn your spot and you’ll represent the club as good as you can (and) as far as potential goes, they’re untapped.
“We’ve got to realise what our potential is – it comes from hard work and the guys to their credit, when we really laid out what we wanted to do, their buy-in has been fantastic.”
Striking a balance of attack and defence remains one of the key areas for improvement, although the new Hawks’ coach believes his side’s best is an exciting brand of footy.
“They’re as close-knit group of players that I’ve ever met, which is a really good key ingredient for any success to be built upon,” he said.
“They’ve worked really hard at training to make sure they understand the way we want to play and the way they want to play – I’m a positive coach by nature and we want to attack, we want to kick good scores and we want to defend as good as we do that.
“Their good is really good, there’s no doubt about it and they play exciting footy.
“Sometimes watching them at training the way they crack in, I’ve gone home a couple of times with a big smile on my face – I’m proud to be associated with the club.”
The Hawks will renew acquaintances with Templestowe in Round 1, when they take on the Dockers at Templestowe Reserve.
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY EASTERN REGION WOMEN’S
Speaking of new eras, Boronia will also field its inaugural senior women’s team this season in the Deakin University Eastern Region Women’s Competition.
EFL 300-game life member and Hawks-great Ray Lacey has been appointed coach and is looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve really enjoyed it – I’ve never done coaching before, and I’ve got only daughters and they wanted to play footy, so it’s got me involved again which has been great,” Lacey said.
“It’s great watching the girls enjoying footy and training.
“Talking to ‘Woody’ (club chairman Kristan Wood), he asked me if I was more than willing to just help and I came around to it (coaching).”
Lacey says expectations for the year remain modest at this stage.
“I spoke about this at training last week, I said let’s get our team on the ground, let’s get our first point, our first goal and one day we’ll win our first game and celebrate – just baby steps at this stage,” he said.
In what is proving to be a family affair for the 300-gamer, four of Lacey’s daughters have trained with the team this pre-season, with a fifth expected to train next week, as they look to follow in their father’s footsteps.
The inaugural women’s coach believes it’s imperative that the club establishes a pathway for its female footballers, with the Hawks also fielding a junior girls side this year.
“We need to establish a senior women’s team because the juniors are looking at girls teams and they’re going to need somewhere to go – we need to develop at the other end to have a flow-through effect,” Lacey said.
