By Christopher Kourtis.
East Burwood have their sights set on finals in the 2024 Division Two season despite a slow start to the year.
East Burwood fell one win short of finals in 2023 and now look to new head coach Justin Whitcher to get the job done.
The Rams have built a healthy list over the off-season, retaining their core and adding to it with a variety of new players.
“We really didn’t lose much at all… we’ve gained a lot of new players,” Whitcher said. “When the full list is up and running… we’ll have a list that is more than competitive. The aim is to play finals.”
Starting 0-2, losses to Croydon and Ringwood have raised questions about whether the Rams have what it takes to stick around until September.
“They’re a bit introverted as a group, which might be affecting performance a little bit,” Whitcher said.
“I think they need to be a little bit firmer with each other on their systems and their ways of going about their footy.”
“As far as thing to work on, most definitely it’s the communication of the group. It’s those introverted personalities coming out of their shell a little bit,” he said. “Those things sound little, but if they can communicate better and set standards a little bit higher of each other, I think that [the team will] understand that there’s goals advantage to that.”
It isn’t all doom and gloom at East Burwood Reserve, however. Despite a slow start, the Rams have shown signs of improvement in their first two games.
“We’ve had patches in both games. In the first quarter [against Croydon] we ticked off every statistical box that we had and were three goals to one up,” Whitcher said. “It’s just a belief thing this with group.”
East Burwood will look to open their account against the Waverley Blues, who currently sit in second place. Whitcher says that the time for action is now.
“A few people have been put on notice with where they are at,” he said. “[We are] confident that, through doing what we are trying to do on the track… we will hopefully get a response”.
