By Josh Ward.
There’s high hopes at Knox Gardens Reserve following two promising seasons for the men’s and women’s sides in their respective divisions.
Last season was the strongest for Knox since its 2017 Division 2 premiership, making its first finals appearance since that year and making their way to the Division 3 preliminary final
Steve Buckle returns for a third year as senior men’s coach, saying the group has hit the ground running since starting preseason in mid-November.
“With the women as well we’re averaging around 75-80 on the track on a Monday and Thursday,” Buckle said.
“The hunger is there and it’s showing with the numbers that we’re getting on the training track.”
Majority of last season’s group has re-signed whilst there’s been a couple of additions along the way.
Among those is Wantirna South duo Charlie Young and Cameron Tennant, with both hardly missing a session so far this offseason.
“They’re both six foot two (inches), both are wingmen and want to play that wing role…they’re fitting in seamlessly and I’m very impressed with them both.”
Jack Potter has also signed having last played with Wantirna South in 2023 along with Forest Hill duo Ben Rudd and Jack Tetley.
“(Potter) is now looking super fit…that’s going to bolster our forward line as well.
“We’ve got two quality young boys from (Forest Hill) too…it’s pretty exciting to see those young boys come through the doors too.”
There’s also plenty of excitement around the Under 19s coming through, with two teams set to take the park for Knox in the 19s competition.
Some of those Under 19s have also impressed this offseason, including players with senior experience such as Devon La Fontaine, Adrian D’Amico, Kye Tornay, Corey Bourke and Jett Marget.
“You need (those 19s) coming through and you need to give them their opportunity. Whenever they played senior footy last year they didn’t look out of place.
“We (bring) a fair few up to train with us in match sim and they’re training the house down, they’re all fit and they’ve all stepped up a level, and are maturing not just in their bodies but with their footy as well.”
And with those 19s coming through, on top of their recruits and playing group re-signing, Buckle believes the side can go that little bit further than they did last year.
“A lot of these boys tasted finals footy for the first time in their careers and I think that’s got the hunger for them in no uncertain terms…
“I think it’s going to be a very tight division, but we want to achieve the ultimate at the end of the day.”
Meanwhile Knox’s women’s side come into 2025 following a fifth-placed finish in a very hard fought Division 1 competition.
They’ll have another fresh face at the helm, with Mike Tyson stepping into the role following Mark Eisenbise’s departure after one season.
Bringing with him experience as the Box Hill Hawks VFL youth development coach, Tyson says the club’s been very welcoming since he’s signed on.
“It’s a good bunch of girls and the club’s been very welcoming, the team is looking forward to the coming season,” Tyson said.
Much like the men’s teams, there’ve been strong numbers of the track for the women’s so far this offseason.
“Our average number per night is 22 and we’ve had a total of 30 trained (so far) and they’re all committed, which is great.
“We’ve had a good influx of players from the Under 18s program last year and new recruits as well.”
Among those recruits is The Basin duo Danielle Brotto and Ellie Weldon along with Bayswater junior Haylee Gasparroni.
“They’ve been fantastic, they’ve really adapted well to the program and their input has been really good as well.”
The Under 18 girls have also settled into the senior group smoothly as well, with many of those players having siblings already playing.
“It’s good to have girls who’ve been in some sort of program for a number of years, they’re skill set is really strong…they’re very enthusiastic as well.
Jazzy Stocks is one of the players taking the jump into senior footy that’s impressed on the track along with 2022 premiership trio Holly Gibson, Ella Ritchie and Taylor Prentice.
“It has really been a team effort though because everyone’s been at training and have been willing to learn.
And with a young and talented group at his disposal, Tyson believes that if the side can stick to their processes then they can be competitive with every team in Division 1 this season.
“The main thing is I want all of our players to focus on us as a team to make sure that we’re doing all the team principals correctly and to be adaptive to change.”