By Ryan Long.
A productive off-season turned into a successful year on the field for the Dockers who returned to the finals for the first time in six years.
Senior Men’s
Ladder Position: 3rd (12-6, 134.64%)
Best and Fairest: Carl Giovannini
Leading Goalkicker: Carl Giovannini (21 goals)
Summary:
The Dockers returned to the finals for the first time since 2017, advancing to a Preliminary Final.
A promising 2022 season campaign saw the club just miss out on a finals spot, but some big named recruits turned the Dockers into a premiership threat in 2023.
Headlining their off-season recruits was Beau Mitchener, the former Lilydale ruckman a huge inclusion for the club, working alongside a talented midfield group.
That group included Carl Giovannini, the inside mid having a phenomenal year at the Dockers, taking out multiple Templestowe awards, as well as the Dockers 2022 Best and Fairest winner Michael Fogarty.
They were dominant on a weekly basis, helping lead the side to ten wins from their opening 13 games.
With a month left to play in the season, Templestowe had a change of senior coaches from Anthony McGregor to Nick Batsanis.
Batsanis stood up for the club in the final rounds of the season and into the finals series as a playing coach. An injury in an away game against the Hawks saw him miss the remainder of the year, coaching from the sidelines. With a very high football IQ, Batsanis led the Dockers to their first senior finals win since 2016.
The side put on a masterclass performance against the Waverley Blues in the Qualifying Final. The Dockers lost their next two finals against Boronia and Heathmont to fall short of a Grand Final appearance.
Key Players:
Doing it all in 2023 was Carl Giovannini, recruited to the Dockers, winning a club best and fairest as well as the side’s leading goal kicker award. Giovannini averaged 26 disposals, 7 clearances and 5 inside 50’s per game this season. One of his best performances coming in Round 17, a 40-disposal game against Knox.
Toby Ryan was another important key player for the side this year, going underrated through the middle, an average of 24 disposals per game. He finished in the Division Two Team of the Year back-six alongside Skipper Alex Brown and new recruit Douglas Wootton.
Skipper Alex Brown had another great year in defence, elected captain of the Team of the Year Squad, while Doug Wootton transitioned into the side nicely, a key player down back.
Also with TOTY honours was ruckman Beau Mitchener and midfielder Michael Fogarty. For Mitchener, it’s the seventh time the ruckman has been selected in a Team of the Year.
Best Win: Qualifying Final – Templestowe 15.15 105 def. Waverley Blues 11.6 72 @Walker Park
A 33-point final margin doesn’t do justice to the Dockers Qualifying Final performance at Walker Park.
Templestowe dominated the first-half, piling on the goals, nine to one in the first half to go into the main break 52 points in front. The Dockers kicked five goals to none in the first half from stoppages and four goals to one from turnovers.
The Dockers prevented the Waverley Blues from their quick game style, dominating the clearances, 62 to 25. A late charge in the final quarter from Waverley was all but too late as the Dockers advanced through to the Semi Final against Boronia.
Carl Giovannini finished as the highest ranked player on the ground with 127 ranking points, 21 disposals and 8 clearances.
Off-Season Focus:
2024’s a great opportunity to see the development of Nick Batsanis as senior coach of the footy club. Thrown into the deep end in the back half of the season would have been a huge personal challenge for the former Doncaster East premiership captain. Showed a lot in a short amount of time, announced earlier this August as the senior coach for 2024.
The club will certainly be looking to fill the gap for a key forward in season 2024. Their midfield is one of the best in the division, but they do at times rely on those star midfielders to kick a fair portion of their total scores.
They’ve since added Bailey Griffths, who can play both ruck and up forward in a key position role. Griffths has had experience through the SANFL, playing with South Australia. More recently, he’s played at the Wodonga Bulldogs.
Others such as Yianni Kazakis from Doncaster East, have joined the Dockers for 2024. A chance to play at the senior level, he’ll also add a bit of firepower to their forward line, finishing on top of the Lions Reserves Goalkickers this season.
Hard to imagine the senior side falling out of the top five next season, the big question will be if they can move from a finals team to a premiership side.
