Finals appearances for the Senior Men and Women while the Bears’ Netball teams had great seasons with one premiership and two Grand Final showings.
By Ryan Long.
The Basin
Ladder Position: 4th (9-8-1, 126.68%)
Best and Fairest: Nick Hallo
Leading Goalkicker: Deon Boavida (25)
Summary:
The Bears came into season 2022 with high expectations after the amount of progress made the year prior.
They couldn’t register that same type of consistency this season with a wide gap between their best and their worse. The Basin was slow out of the blocks, starting the year off 0-1-3 in their first four weeks before they broke the drought with a 45-point win over Knox.
Eventually, they did find their feet and had several impressive victories across the season including a 59-point win over East Burwood, a 65-point win over Mulgrave, and a 7-point win over Boronia.
They were certainly a much better side when playing at Batterham Reserve, only losing on their home deck three times, all by close margins. In four of their games at Batterham, the Bears kicked 20 or more goals for the afternoon.
With a finals spot on the line, the Bears won four of their last five games to jump Templestowe and Boronia and finish fourth on the ladder. Facing Boronia in the Elimination Final, the Bears led at multiple stages of the game with momentum constantly shifting. Six behinds from seven scoring shots in the last quarter saw The Basin fall short by nine points.
Key Players:
Nick Hallo won his third consecutive club best and fairest with another big season. The star midfielder also made the Division Two Team of the Year once more. Also having a great year was Deon Boavida, with 25 goals for the season including two bags of five against Mulgrave and Boronia.
Joining the Bears from the Garfield Football Club in the West Gippsland Football league, Jayden Goumas had a great year. Goumas finished in the best eleven times from fourteen, showing great consistency.
Best Win: Round 7 – The Basin 21.14 140 def. East Burwood 12.9 81 @Batterham Reserve
After a slow start to the year, by Round 7, the Bears were back playing some good footy, searching for their third consecutive win. They faced off against East Burwood who had started off the year winning five in a row before their first loss of the year to South Belgrave.
A seven-goal opening term had The Basin on top early, they doubled their quarter-time margin with an 8-goal second quarter and led the Rams by 55 points at the main break. With the game locked up, the Bears took the foot off the pedal, running away 59-point winners.
Jackson Drake had a day out, seven goals in the big win at home while Trevor Mills and Matthew Rennie combined for seven themselves.
Off-Season Focus:
The Basin is currently going through a transition period with a new coach and a few of their key star moving on. Jason Wade has taken over as the Senior Coach, most recently a midfield coach with the Donvale Football Club.
There are a couple of key position players the Bears will need to cover in season 2023, defender Tom Weir is off to Knox while Jackson Drake committing to Berwick.
There’s still plenty of talent on the list and a great junior program that will see the club in good hands for the future. The Under 19s have just come off a premiership which is a great sign for the club. If they can just weather the storm over the next couple of years, they’ll be set for the future.
The Basin Senior Women’s
Ladder Position: 3rd (6-8, 108.76%)
Best and Fairest: Zoe Alston
Leading Goalkicker: Julia Baker (38)
Summary:
The Bears coming off a great season in Division One stepped up to the challenge in Premier B this year.
For the majority of the year, the Bears were locked in a battle for the top spot with Whitehorse and Donvale. The club were the number two ranked defence behind the Pioneers and the number two offence behind the Magpies.
They just missed out on a double chance, finishing third after losing their last two games of the Home and Away season to Boronia and Ferntree Gully.
It meant the Bears would play the Hawks in the Semi-Final. The game was played in tough conditions out at Quambee Reserve. A low-scoring game saw the Basin pinch a four-point win, moving through to the Preliminary Final. They played off against the Pioneers for a spot in the Grand Final. Despite a strong performance from Candice Carroll, kicking three goals, the Bears went down by 18 points, finishing their season.
Key Players:
The Bears had three players feature in the EFNL Premier and Premier B Team of the Year, Zoe Alston, Monica Vantilburg and Julia Baker. Alston had a fantastic first season for the Bears, moving from Chirnside Park. She won the club’s best and fairest while finishing second in the league best and fairest for the Premier B division. Vantilburg finished just behind her in the B&F, dominating the season from the wing.
Julia Baker led from the front once more, with 38 goals for the year, the leading goalkicker of the division.
Both Baker and Vantilburg finished equal fifth in the league’s best and fairest.
Best Win: Semi Final – The Basin 2.7 19 def. Boronia 2.3 15 @Quambee Reserve
The fourth time the two clubs met in season 2022, with the Hawks having a 2-1 record over the Bears coming into the clash. After Zoe Alston kicked the opening goal in the first quarter, Boronia controlled the second term, keeping The Basin scoreless while kicking two of their own.
The second half saw the Bears attempting to take back that lead in poor conditions. After a series of behinds, Julia Baker kicked the match-winner for The Bears from a set shot and the Basin held on for a four-point win.
Off-Season Focus:
The Bears have already re-signed many of the star players ahead of the 2023 season. Their recruitment of Zoe Alston over the off-season paid off in dividends. If the club can add one or two more stars to the list without losing many numbers, they can certainly contend for a premiership next year.
The Basin Development Women’s
Ladder Position: 5th (5-7, 83.78%)
Best and Fairest: Ang Glass
Leading Goalkicker: Patsy Boxell (18)
Summary:
Another great sign for the club in season 2022 was the Bears being able to have two teams again in the women’s competition. The Basin’s Reserves side played in Division Four against the other five clubs that had numbers for two teams.
The side had great success in the first half of the season, winning four of their first six games. Later in the season, The Basin defeated the eventual Premiers, Vermont, by 15 points.
Unfortunately for the club, losing their last three games of the season saw the Basin miss finals by one game.
Key Players:
A standout for the Bears was Ang Glass, winning the club’s best and fairest. Glass finished in the best seven times from eleven games.
Patricia Boxell had a great year, leading the goalkicking with 8 majors from just seven games. Her impressive season saw her finish in the top five of the league’s best and fairest count while playing several matches on the senior side.
Best Win: Round 10 – The Basin 4.3 27 def. Vermont 0.12 12 @Batterham Reserve
Although the club had some massive wins early in the year, this may be their most impressive, considering their opponents.
Vermont, the eventual premiers of the division, struggled to find the goals in the Round 12 clash at Batterham. They kicked twelve behinds for the afternoon while The Basin made the most of their opportunities with Patricia Boxell kicking four goals to give the Bears a 15-point win.
Off-Season Focus:
As just one of six clubs in the EFNL to have two women’s teams, The Basin will be looking to replicate that again in season 2023. They’ve done a great job so far with the announcements of their key players recommitting to the club, they’ll look to continue locking in more players over the remainder of the off-season.
Netball Season Review
The Basin Kodiaks (Section Two)
Ladder Position: 5th (8-9, 86.91%)
The Basin was right in the hunt for a finals spot in Section Two, winning eight games for the season, missing out on the fourth spot by percentage. Unfortunately, three consecutive losses at the end of the season saw the club miss out. They did have some strong performances throughout the year proving they were a serious finals contender, this included wins against top-four side Vermont.
Kristy Dahan capped off a fantastic season, winning the league best and fairest for Section Two, finishing on 19 votes. Leading the side’s goalscoring was Dayna Walsham with 214 goals, closely followed by teammate Melissa Beardswoirth with 161 goals. A great achievement for both girls, inside the top ten scorers for the league.
The Basin Cubs (Section Three)
Ladder Position: 2nd (12-5, 135.60%)
A great season for the Section three side that finished second on the ladder with twelve wins for the year. A second-place finish meant The Basin would face off in the Semi Final against Minor Premiers, Lilydale. After an even first half, the Cubs broke the game open in the second half, having an impressive eight-point win and qualifying for the Grand Final.
Two weeks later, The Basin took on East Ringwood in the last game of the year, unfortunately going down to the Roos by six points in a tight contest.
Winning the club’s best and fairest was Bree Kruger while Jess Rousch led the goal-scoring with 267 goals.
The Basin Grizzlies (Section Eight)
Ladder Position: 1st (10-3, 121.8%)
The Basin’s third netball team had a fantastic year, dominating the regular season to finish Minor Premiers with ten wins. Two of their three losses came at the start of the year before going on their ten-game winning streak.
Come finals time, The Basin took on second place Mulgrave in the Semi Final, winning the match by seven points.
The side then faced off against East Burwood two weeks later in the Grand Final. Another great performance saw the club win comfortably by 13 points, taking home the Section Eight premiership.
Kate Watson was fantastic, leading the club’s goal scoring with 268 goals, also winning the best and fairest for the side.
The Basin Juniors
The Basin Junior FC had a phenomenal year, having a ton of success in 2022. The club fielded 14 sides, with nine competitive teams across the boys and girls competitions. Of those nine teams, an outstanding six teams played finals with five going on to the ultimate success of being premiers at the end of the year.
The club won premierships in the Under 11’s, the Under 12s in both the boys and girls competitions, the Under 14s and Under 15s, all tasting premiership success. The Under 13s side also made it through to a Preliminary Final.
Charlie Lavender capped off a stellar personal season winning the Under 15B EFNL League Best and Fairest player.
Although it may be difficult to repeat five premierships in one year, the club will be looking forward to 2023 with great optimism and the hopes of another amazing season.
