A tough opening year in the Eastern Football Netball League sees Oakleigh District relegated to Division Three ahead of season 2023.
Oakleigh District
Ladder Position: 10th (0-18, 17.53%)
Leading Goalkicker: Mathew Stojanoski (8)
Summary:
A new beginning for Oakleigh District who joined the Eastern Football Netball League for the first time in season 2022 after spending the last 71 years in the Southern Football Netball League. Over the off-season, they brought in some new faces including the highly talented Isaac Conway bringing plenty of state-level experience with him.
They joined a highly competitive Division Two in the EFNL where unfortunately they went through the season without winning a match. Oakleigh had an average losing margin of 136 points, unable to keep any opposition in double figures.
The club will be looking forward to an easier fixture next season in Division Three with a new list.
Key Players:
Ryan Pearson was a clear standout for the club in their first season in the league. He finished in the best eleven times from sixteen games, battling hard. Playing just the first nine games of the season was Isaac Conway who featured in the best all nine times. Mathew Stojanoski led the club’s goal-scoring in 2022 with eight majors.
Other key players included Simon Black, Francis Connolly and Dylan Hilton.
Off-Season Focus:
Expect a very different Oakleigh District outfit in season 2023. The club made a very big announcement in September that Blake Pearson would join Oakleigh as the senior playing Coach. Pearson has just come off the back of a chandler medal-winning season for Norwood while also having 90 games of experience at VFL level with Port Melbourne. He joins his brother Ryan who’s a current player at the club and will be a fantastic role model for the younger group of players.
With a new coach, Oakleigh District has been one of the busiest clubs in the off-season, recruiting plenty of new players such as Mitch Potts and D’Arcy Grant.
Although it may take a bit of time to gel as a new group and work on particular game plans and play to a new structure and system, Oakleigh should be a much better-rounded side in 2023 with finals not out of their reach.