30 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: Steve White
EAST RINGWOOD is heading into the new season with renewed confidence, after narrowly missing finals footy in 2019.
The Roos missed out on a finals berth by just four points and finished seventh with eight wins and 10 losses in an extremely tight Division 1, despite beating four of the top five sides last year.
Notable victories over Doncaster East, Croydon, Lilydale and Park Orchards showed the men in blue and white could hang with any team, but in a division that saw six wins earning relegation, the margin for error was slim.
Incoming senior coach Ben Osborne is wasting no time in getting his team in shape for the 2020 campaign.
Osborne is a 200-game, two-time premiership winner with South Croydon as well a team of the decade member for both the 2000s and 2010s. Osborne was an assistant coach to Leigh Adams at South Croydon for its 2017 premiership win and has spent the past two seasons at Coburg in the VFL.
Osborne has also brought Todd Beames with him from Coburg as senior assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach.
They are joined in the coaches box this year by assistant coach Luke Allison, also a two-time South Croydon premiership player with stints at Boronia and Ferntree Gully.
“The boys have had a really good pre-season so far with no injuries, which is always a plus,” Osborne said.
“We have a couple of important practice matches coming up, one against NFNL heavyweights West Preston and one against Gippsland Football League side Moe, in the next couple of weeks.
“We just had an intraclub match which went really well and gave the boys a good hit-out coming into the start of the season.
“Aside from a return to finals football, one of the focuses for the club this season is building and strengthening the connection from the juniors through to the senior list.”
East Ringwood has maintained much of its senior list but has also recruited aggressively in the off-season, bringing back some club favourites.
2019 senior best and fairest and SEN Division 1 Team of the Year representative James Belo is back for another tilt, topping the side’s goal-kicking with 20 goals in 13 games last year.
Big man Andrew Renton and best and fairest runner-up Dylan Belo return for the club after both also being named in the SEN Division 1 Team of the Year.
Josh Allison has re-signed for a second season following a strong 2019, as well as midfielder Liam Kinsella.
Daniel Butera, Mitch Walch, Isaac Delaney, Tristan Davies, Damon Delaney, Connor Weightman and Jordan Williams will all feature in the 2020 side alongside skipper Chris Cerni and vice-captain Stuart Donnelly.
Darcy Powell is back in the blue and white after missing the last 18 months of football battling a knee injury, while Jayden Battaglene returns after a stint in Queensland last year.
The Coburg connection has delivered a number of key signings for the club, punctuated with the return of 2016 best and fairest Josh Weightman on a full-time basis.
East Ringwood junior Liam Whelan, who is currently on Coburg’s list, has also signed on for this season. Whelan featured in eight games for Coburg last season, and was named in the best on three occasions. Sam Lowson has also made himself available this year when not playing in the VFL.
“We were plagued by injuries last year, so it’s really great to have guys like Darcy and Daniel back in the line-up and healthy for this season,” Osborne said.
In terms of the strength of Division 1 in his first year at the helm, Osborne expects the same level of competitiveness of 2019 required to stay in the finals hunt.
“I’d expect it to be really tight again this year,” he said.
“Croydon, being runners-up from last year, would have to be the team to beat this year. Wantirna South have recruited well and Park Orchards look strong again too, but you really don’t know until a few games into the season.”
East Ringwood’s women’s side is also looking for greater success in 2020.
After finishing a solid second season in the Deakin University Women’s Division 1 competition in fourth spot with eight wins and five losses, the Roos went out in the first round of the finals to Upwey-Tecoma for the second year in a row.
Senior coach Peter Baker is happy with the side’s pre-season preparations and lauds the integration of the juniors with the senior team during training.
“The senior women train together with the under 18s and under 16s on Thursday night which is fantastic for all of us,” Baker said.
“The younger players enjoy working the with the senior players and the seniors enjoy the enthusiasm and vitality of the juniors, and it allows us to work on skills and development as a club.
“We decided to have a senior women’s team two seasons ago, because the girls had nowhere to go after they played juniors and they’d go somewhere else.
“Our long-term goal at the club is to have a competitive team and system where the girls can come through the juniors and then play seniors, rather than go somewhere else.
“There’s a lot of work to do obviously but we’re currently laying strong foundations towards that goal.”
Club best and fairest and spearhead Katie Shanahan is back for the Roos, after booting 37 goals last season. Taylah Mount returns as skipper along with Tamika Butters and Rebecca Gallaher, who had big seasons in 2019. Kylie Bevan also returns after missing much of 2019 with a knee injury.
“We have a core group of about 6 or 7 players that we’re aiming to develop the rest of the team around,” Baker said.
“However, I think the most positive thing for us is that we have five or six under-18 girls playing senior football this year. That’s something we’ve never had before and the club is really excited about that happening this year.”
East Ringwood opens its season on the road against Mitcham at Walker Park on Saturday, April 4. The women’s fixtures will be released at a later date.