The North Ringwood Senior Women’s side made it through to a Preliminary Final whilst the Senior Men face relegation after their two-win season.
By Ryan Long.
North Ringwood
Ladder Position: 12th (2-16, 49.72%)
Best and Fairest: Liam Taylor
Leading Goalkicker: Robin Nahas (15)
Summary:
It wasn’t the Saints year in 2022, relegated to Division One after a two-win season. The club started the season off with 13 straight losses before they had their first breakthrough win against Vermont at home. Their last month of football was a much better result for effort with two wins and almost putting themselves in a position to overtake Berwick to avoid relegation.
North Ringwood averaged just 49 points per game across the 18 round season while conceded heavy scoring down the other end of the ground. Still quite a young side so there’s still a lot to take out from the year, in order to return to the winner’s list more frequently in the 2023 season.
Key Players:
Liam Taylor had a big year for the Saints in 2022, winning the club best and fairest. The star midfielder averaged over 16 disposals, 4 tackles and 3 marks per game. Finishing as the runner up in the Saints B&F was Michael Locco, in the side’s best nine times from 15 games.
Jackson Braunthal was one of the side’s most consistent players across the year, not missing a game. He averaged 19 disposals and four marks, having 30 or more disposals on two occasions.
Best Win: Round 14 – North Ringwood 8.10 58 def. Vermont 6.14 50 @Quambee Reserve
The Round 14 win for the Saints broke a 13-game losing streak on what was a fantastic day for the club. On their home deck, a slow start saw Vermont take an early lead, but the game had multiple momentum swings with the Eagles getting out to a seven point lead at the final change. An impressive four goals to one in the final quarter gave the Saints a very memorable first win of the year.
Liam Taylor led the way all afternoon, 20 disposals at 90% efficiency, 8 marks and 114 ranking points.
Off-Season Focus:
The drop to Division One can be looked at as a positive thing for a club that is quite young across the board. They’ve added a bit of experience to the list with their recruits. One area they certainly had to look at working on is the forward half of the ground. Robin Nahas led the club’s goal kicking with 15, one of just two players on the side that finished the season in double digits.
This current off-season, the club has picked up Patrick Rose, a former VFL Premiership player at Port Melbourne. In that 2017 season, he led the goal kicking in the league and has since kicked 100 goals in back-to-back seasons at local level. A perfect addition to the side that was looking for a prominent forward to join the club.
They’ll be tested early, playing South Belgrave, Mooroolbark and Mitcham in three of their first four rounds next year. Win a couple of games in that early block of matches and the side will be well and truly back on track.
North Ringwood Women’s
Ladder Position: 3rd (8-4, 129.54%)
Best and Fairest: Ella Rhodes
Leading Goalkicker: Shannon Harris (14)
Summary:
A successful year for North Ringwood in Division One, making the finals with an 8-4 record that had the side finishing third on the home and away ladder. The only two sides they couldn’t defeat in 2022 was Park Orchards and Rowville. However, they defeated every other side in the division multiple times throughout the year.
The Saints took on Beaconsfield in a Semi Final, winning by ten points in difficult conditions. A week later they came up against Minor Premiers Rowville in the Preliminary Final for a chance at a second Grand Final in the space of three seasons. Despite a very competitive performance, the Saints fell ten points short of a Hawks side that would go on to win the Division One flag.
Key Players:
Having a remarkably consistent strong year was Ella Rhodes, in the best 12 times from 13 matches. Her quick pace and use of the ball saw her win the club best and fairest. Runner Up for the club was Sarah Humm, eight times in the best, also kicking four goals.
Shannon Harris led the goal scoring for the Saints with 14 majors while Carli Forbes finished just behind her with 11.
Some of the other most influential players included Skipper Tayla Deane, Chloe Rice and Kate Ridley.
Best Win: Semi Final – North Ringwood 2.5 17 def. Beaconsfield 1.1 7 @Silvan Recreation Reserve
After just playing Beaconsfield in the final round of the season, the two sides would meet once more in the first Semi Final. Although the week prior was a much more free-flowing game with the Saints kicking eight goals to four, the final was a much different ball game. The poor weather conditions made it tough for either side to score. North Ringwood had most of the play early, keeping the Eagles scoreless. It took until the third quarter for the Saints to break things open with two goals from Kate Ridley and Shannon Harris.
Ridley was one of the side’s key contributors for the afternoon, alongside the likes of Sarah Humm and Ella Rhodes.
Off-Season Focus:
The Saints have done well to re-sign some of their most important players ahead of the 2023 season. If they can add to their list and build on what they’ve been able to achieve this year, another premiership is certainly up for grabs.
Veterans
North Ringwood’s Veteran Men’s side were the team to beat throughout the home and away season, winning eight out of nine games. After a one-point win over Croydon North in the Semi Final, the Saints took on Coldstream in the Grand Final. In a tight match, the Saints came up five points short with the Cougars taking out the flag.
Paul Florance and Heath Decker both had great years, finishing second and third in the league best and fairest.
North Ringwood Juniors
North Ringwood Junior FC had a massive year as the equal biggest junior club in the league with 24 teams. The club had a total of eight sides in both the boys and girls divisions who made finals series. In the boys, the Under 17s lost a close Grand Final, while the Under 14A and U14D sides won flags, finishing on top of the ladder. The Under 11 boys also won a premiership in a great year for the club.
The U18 Girls won a flag finishing on top with the Under 12 Girls also winning their Grand Final with Leah Den Braber winning the league best and fairest. Thomas Lyndon won the Under 11 division best and fairest for the boys.