By Ryan Long
Overview:
A fantastic year for the Roos who finished the season with a 9-2 record and with arguably the best defence in the division.
In 11 matches, East Ringwood gave up just 566 points, an average of just 51 points, clearly showing the time and effort they’ve put into their defence. They recruited well in the off-season that helped boost their stocks down back.
Their offence was just as strong, ranked as the number two attacking side behind Park Orchards. East Ringwood scored more than 100 points four times this season. Their scoring from their forward half was evenly spread, 20 senior players on their list kicked more than one goal across the year with James Belo leading the scoring for the Roos with 22 majors for the season.
East Ringwood is only set to be more dangerous in the forward fifty next year with Ben Hickleton having a full pre-season under his belt after missing most of the year with a broken arm.
Best Win: Round 5: East Ringwood 8.9 57 def. Mooroolbark 8.7 55 @East Ringwood Reserve
Considering Mooroolbark’s undefeated start to the year, this was arguably the Roos biggest challenge of the season. Hosting the Mustangs at home, East Ringwood held on for a two-point win in a low scoring classic.
At the time, the Mustangs were averaging 99 points per game and star forward Aaron Mullet was a key focal point of their offence. It was a sign of East Ringwood’s dominant defensive system that they managed to keep Mullet to just one goal for the afternoon and the Mustangs to eight goals themselves.
The game was tight all day, the margin was never more than a goal at every change. The Mustangs had several chances late in the game with repeat entries inside 50. However, a nice game-saving mark from young star Jackson Weatherill late in the match would end Mooroolbark’s run.
Sahaf Ali also continued his impressive start to the year, being named in the best for the third time in five games, all at the age of just 18.
Worst Loss: Round 3: East Ringwood 5.16 46 def by. Park Orchards 8.11 59 @East Ringwood Reserve
The only team to defeat East Ringwood this year were the Sharks who were able to do it twice in close low-scoring battles.
Despite only losing by two points in their second encounter, their Round Three loss may be the real opportunity blown. Inaccuracy in front of goal haunted the Roos for most of the afternoon, a 1.6 final term denied any hope of a last quarter comeback.
The Belo brothers at both ends of the ground were important for East Ringwood, James Belo finished with three majors for the afternoon. Experienced players in Weightman and Cerni were also gallant in defeat, featuring in the side’s best.
Standout Player: Hannin Mundy
With stars across the board, it’s tough to narrow it down to just one standout player but first-year ruck Hannin Mundy had a brilliant debut season. Mundy finished equal fifth with teammate Christopher Cerni in the EFNL league best and fairest, with ten votes.
The young star was also one of four East Ringwood players named in the Division One Team of the Year. He’s come in at the perfect time, replacing club legend Andrew Renton in the ruck.
Mundy will be one to watch in the upcoming years and will play a crucial role in what looks to be the makings of a future premiership team.
Off-season focus:
The biggest focus right now for East Ringwood is to keep the list they’ve got together to give themselves every chance to contend for a premiership. It’s a strong mix of experience, youth and a group of players who are at the peak of their careers.
The Roos have plenty of depth in the midfield, many that are attacking players who can hit the scoreboard. Along with a solid defence, the only thing the Roos may think about adding is another key forward target as an extra source of scoring. However, the club has a promising group of Under 19’s who finished the year losing just one game so there will be plenty of younger players putting their hand up for a chance at senior footy.
With where the club is positioned right now with the amount of depth in their current list, East Ringwood will be a serious premiership contender in 2022.
Women’s
Overview:
A huge success for the club to introduce a senior women’s team to the competition after creating a strong women’s program over the last few years. The decision was made after losing many of their talented junior female players without a team at the Pouch to continue onto.
The girls finished 10th, winning two from their eleven matches but the year focused more on the development of the players rather than the result on game day.
After not hitting the scoreboard in a 131-point loss in their first senior game against The Basin, the club continued to develop their skills and ball movement around the ground to win two games in a row in Rounds four and five to Rowville and North Ringwood.
Best Win: Round 5: North Ringwood 5.7 37 lost to. East Ringwood 6.10 46 @Quambee Reserve
East Ringwood enjoyed back to back wins in Rounds four and five including a come from behind against local rivals, North Ringwood. Despite trailing by seven points at three-quarter time, the girls dug deep, kicking two final quarter goals while keeping the Saints scoreless.
It was the second come from behind win in a row and a promising look at the future of the club.
Candice Taylor was extremely important in the win, contributing to most of the Roos final score, kicking four out of the side’s six goals. Meg Thompson and Teagan Hudson also kicked one each in the nine-point win.
Worst Loss: Round 11: Park Orchards 17.11 113 def. East Ringwood 2.2 14 @Domeney Reserve
A disappointing result near the end of the season considering the club’s improvement across the year. The girls were goalless at half-time before Rebecca Gallaher and Stephanie McNamara both kicked one each in the second half.
The Sharks put the foot down in the third term to kick six goals to one in one of their more dominant quarters for the year. They had a range of goal scorers, five of them being multiple goal scorers.
For the Roos, Jennifer Hicks, Dahlia Ali and Teagan Hudson all featured in the sides best in the 99 point loss.
Standout Player: Meg Thompson
Meg Thompson was one of the clear standouts for the club in her ten matches this season. Thompson impressed the umpires, finishing with ten votes in the league best and fairest award. This included polling five votes in the back to back wins against North Ringwood and Rowville.
Thompson showed plenty of talent in the midfield while also being able to influence the scoreboard going forward at times.
Off-season focus:
Division One is quite a competitive league so it certainly was a big challenge for the group to stay competitive. The focus over the off-season will be to continue working on the group’s skills and working how playing a consistent brand of footy across all four quarters each week.
They’ll also need to find some more avenues to goal. Candice Taylor impressed with eight majors for the season but the benchmark teams in the division all had leading goal scorers in the double digits such as The Basin’s Julia Baker who finished with 31.