Photo credit: Donvale Football Club
33 DAYS TO GO | EFNL Media will be previewing each club ahead of the 2020 season with the #InFocus2020 series, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
By: Davis Harrigan
DONVALE is looking to make strides this season under new coach and club-great Kevin Collins.
The club enters its third season in Division 3, and it wants to take last year’s result of nine wins and nine losses and fifth on the ladder to the next step after missing the finals by 25 per cent.
Collins replaces Brendan McCormack, who coached the Magpies through the second half of 2019 and will take up an assistant coaching role alongside the returning senior mentor.
It was near the end of last season that Collins – who coached the club a Division 2 flag in 1994 and a top-tier flag in 1996 – was approached about the role, and his knowledge and relationship with many of the current group of players definitely played a role in accepting the position.
Donvale coach Kevin Collins led the club’s under-19s to a premiership in 2017.
“The bracket of players who are 24 or 25, I’ve coached them for 10 years, and coached the under-19s a couple of years ago,” Collins said.
“I know the list, and I like the list. Because of that, I thought I could contribute to their development, and I’m happy that I’ve taken it on; it’s a personal development with the players both on and off the field.”
Collins indicated his delight and enthusiasm that there had been an impressive turnout for pre-season, as well as seeing the physical fitness of the list and players improved since preparations for 2020 started.
“We started training in November, and since I’ve got there they’ve been responsive and fantastic; we’ve had a lot of players on the list who have come to training, “ Collins said.
“They came back after we gave them vigorous pre-season training over January, and they came back as fit as what they were at the end of November.
“We made it challenging, and they’ve gone and bought into everything we’ve done. Everyone had fun, had good bonding and enjoyed each other’s company at our recent pre-season camp.”
Donvale has had a mix of previous players and new recruits join the club for the upcoming season.
They have all hit the ground running and made an immediate impact, both in training and throughout the club, bolstering the beliefs they are able to take it up to the best.
“We’ve got a couple of blokes who have come back, like Matt Collins and Darcy Smith, Jarrod Sandells from Yea to join his brother (from the AFL Outer East competition); we have Brandon Trainor from Powelltown, who’s trained the house down, as well as Daniel Roper and Michael Whitburn from Central Victoria, and Scott Heverin,” Collins said.
“Scott’s a handy midfielder, but all of them have taken training to another level. Maintaining your list and then throwing other players in has thrown this new positive energy, and the players look forward to going all the time.”
“Some of the older players and from the ’19s who have come through, like Charlie Kent and Sam Goldsmith, they’re just great players, and a whole lot more people who are contributing positively.”
Collins highlighted the importance of two-way communication, as well as giving a huge credit to his assistant coaches, allowing the leadership team and those around him to be open and allow access to what’s needed, as well as attracting.
“The best thing is my assistant coaches, who are outstanding … old school but they’ve got a wealth of knowledge and taken most of the training sessions,” Collins said.
“They’re fantastic leaders and that’s been our strength. It’s probably why we’ve had so many at training, and at the moment it’s a great and really positive atmosphere, they’re just learning and the players continue to keep responding. These players are through and through Donvale people.”
East Burwood and Fairpark have been promoted to Division 3 in 2020, presenting new and bigger sets of challenges, but it hasn’t phased Collins.
The Magpies visit East Burwood in Round 1 under lights to kick off their season, in a much-anticipated clash.
“When we were in first division, we were arch enemies with East Burwood,” Collins said.
“Our attitude will be that we’ve got to play everyone and we’ll do our (due) preparation. We’ll have our work cut out to win against them, and the teams that went to finals last year will be very strong.
“We think we’re in a good space and we can’t wait.”
Meanwhile, Alan Chung will head up the Donvale senior women’s team in 2020, bringing with him a wealth of playing and coaching experience. The club will again field two teams as both outfits look for a finals berth in season 2020. The Magpies’ Premier Division side finished fifth in 2019 with five wins and seven losses, while the North Division team also finished fifth with four wins and 10 losses.
The club also finished fifth in the Eastern Region Girls Premier Division in 2019, while the under-18s side missed out to Blackburn in the grand final and will be eyeing silverware come September.