By: Daniel Cencic
Twitter: @DC_EFL
The toughest assignment in Division 2 awaits Mitcham this weekend with a trip to Knox Gardens Reserve to take on the unbeaten Falcons.
Off the back of an 18-point win over Mulgrave last weekend which saw young forward Jake Parente kick six goals, senior coach Neil Winterton has been rapt with the 19-year-old’s season to date.
The opening two months of the season has seen Parente nominated for the Leader Young Gun award, as well as lead the Division 2 goal-kicking after seven rounds.
“He’s a serious talent,” Winterton said.
“We were fortunate to get him out of the TAC program last year – he played with the Eastern Ranges.
“We got him for a couple of games but you can see the difference just from last year to this year.”
The Parente match-up has caused opposition coaches numerous headaches this season, including booting a bag of seven against the Waverley Blues in Round 3, and four against a finals-bound Lilydale in Round 6.
PICTURE: Lawrence Pinder
“He’s got a bit of swagger about him which I don’t mind for a key forward and any time we can get it to him one on one, he’s a difficult proposition,” Winterton said.
“He’s very good in the air but he’s also very quick and agile at ground level so he’s a tough match-up for the opposition.”
The Tigers’ 4-3 start to the season has Winterton’s men in the hunt for September, despite heavy losses to Doncaster East in Round 5 and Lilydale in Round 6.
While Winterton concedes there are three sides ahead of the Tigers at this stage of the season, the belief remains high at Walker Park.
“We were really happy with the way we started the year,” he said.
“We had a little of a bit of a setback in the last two weeks against Donny East and Lilydale.
“If I’m going to be brutally honest at the moment, Knox, Lilydale and Donny East are probably a little bit ahead of us at the moment (but) we certainly think we can get to that level.
“We believe that on our day, we can beat anyone.
“If we want to be able to compete with those top three teams, we’ve got to be able to put forward a more consistent effort.”
The win against Mulgrave in Round 7 has Mitcham in the hunt for finals at the mid-way point of the season, ahead of the club’s biggest test yet of toppling a Knox side which has taken all before it in 2017.
“(The Mulgrave win) gives us that one game buffer, and we’re still inside the (top) four by a game which is important,” Winterton said.
“It is crucial (against Knox) that we account ourselves really well.
“Obviously, the win is what we want, but we just need to prove that we can hang with these teams for four quarters.
“We were certainly competitive against Donny East for periods and even Lilydale last week – the score probably didn’t reflect that in the end.
“That’s what we need to be if we’re going to be competitive in the finals – if we make finals, we don’t want to be making up the numbers we want to be able to account ourselves really well.”
In Division 2’s toughest assignment, Winterton’s Tigers are looking forward to the Knox challenge.
“We don’t know a hell of a lot about them because they’ve been up in Division 1 for so long, I know they’ve got a number of quality players,” he said.
“We’ll do our homework but out at their ground I’d imagine it’s going to be a tough proposition but one we’re looking forward to.”
