By Jared Beanland
While Division 1 looked to be a one-horse race through the season, Mitcham proved to be the giant-slayers, putting an exclamation point on the improvement shown over the past couple of years.
The Tigers played a hard, exciting brand of footy through year, yet decidedly looked like the underdogs when coming into a Grand Final against the undefeated South Belgrave.
The script was flipped, however, as on the day that counted the boys from Walker Park took the scalp that nobody else could.
Neil Winterton has proved in the past to be a big game coach, and was able to re-affirm that reputation with a classic 5 point win over the Saints.
“It was obviously a great day, a very satisfying one, a lot of effort goes in both on and off the field to even make it through to a grand final,” Winterton said.
“So to be able to get there, and then come away with the victory was just reward for the hard work that had been done, by not only the playing group, but by everybody off-field as well. It’s always very satisfying for everyone involved in the club. So we all enjoyed the day and celebrated that night.”
For Winterton, the one word that sums up his team’s ability to pull off such an upset is belief.
“The group has a lot of self-belief, there’s a fair portion of the guys who have played a lot of junior footy together, and they were really successful throughout their junior career, and they’ve gained belief from that, and that flowed through to their senior careers,”
“And it was the same story in 2019, when we beat Ringwood in the Grand Final. We were the underdogs going into that – I think they kicked 8 or 9 goals in the first quarter, and we probably were dead and buried – the boys have an enormous amount of self-belief, the believe that no matter what the situation is they can come out on top.”
Ahead of season 2024, Walker Park has been livelier than ever, and the feeling is optimistic going into the new year.
“The numbers have been really strong, carrying on from last year where the numbers were through the roof. And that’s been the case again, the boys have jumped on board, they work really hard, had a few preseasons now, got our fitness levels up to where we think they need to be, and looking forward to the season commencing.”
Formerly a playing coach, Winterton was forced to take to the sidelines at the start of 2022. He’s found that he’s settled well into his new role, and the success he’s found coaching on the sidelines speaks for itself.
“It was a bit of an adjustment initially, but I’m enjoying it now, but it was certainly an adjustment early doors. It was a little frustrating not being able to get out there on the field, but the body has well and truly had enough, and I know I can’t physically get out there and do it, so I’ve made peace with that, and I’m just enjoying the role of just being coach.”
It wasn’t a perfect season for Mitcham, as they finished the home and away roster with 6 losses, and went down again in the Qualifying Final to Montrose by one point. The lapses in games is an area of improvement that Winterton has identified, and that has been the main focus for preseason.
“I think it illustrates what an even competition it is. South Belgrave obviously had an outstanding season, going right through undefeated. To be able to do that speaks volumes to what a quality outfit they are. So I think we had little lapses here and there, which ultimately cost us games,”
“A couple of times when we played Montrose we got off to a really poor start and fought our way back into the game. Ultimately we went down by small margins in that first final, and the second time we played them during the season as well. So it’s just about being able to – obviously every club strives to do it – but play four consistent quarters.”
“In this division if you’re off your game by 5 to 10 percent for a quarter, you could be staring down the barrel of a 3, 4, 5 goal deficit, and it’s really hard to peg that back. So that’s a challenge for us, to be able to play a bit more consistent footy. We know our best footy is obviously good enough to beat anybody, it’s just about being able to do that on a more consistent basis.”
“We’re not going to make wholesale changes with the way we go about things, it’s just about being more consistent and doing those for longer periods of time.”
“Very rarely do you play a game where you’re 100% on top of your game, and you absolutely dominate from the first bounce. So you understand there are ebbs and flows throughout a game, but it’s about doing things that make us a good team for longer periods. And just making sure that when the opposition are on top that it doesn’t become a 3, 4, 5 goal avalanche from them, and then you’re chasing tail for the rest of the game.”
Mitcham’s list is one of the deepest across the whole league, and the success of the reserves side has been an encouraging sign of the quality of that depth. The Tigers’ development team have gone down to Wantirna South in the Grand Final the past two years, and has had very successful seasons both times. Mitcham are also one of only seven teams across the league to be fielding two different under 19s teams.
“Our reserves have made the last two Grand Finals, and the numbers are super strong. This week in the reserves there’s going to be about eight or nine guys we have to leave out of the team because the numbers are so big. That bodes really well, in having a strong list, and the reserves team is going to have a number of players that have either played senior footy for us in the past couple of years, or are more than capable of playing seniors throughout the season. So that creates healthy competition, and the guys in the seniors know that there’s the players in the reserves team nipping at their heels, so if they’re not playing good footy, then they’ll come in and take their place.
“We’ve actually got two under 19s teams this year which is huge, that means you get a good influx of young kids coming in. I think there’s about five to six kids in the under 19s that are on NAB league lists as well. In our last practise game there were four kids from the under 19s that played in the seniors, so there’s definitely kids that I’d be more than keen to look at throughout the season.”
Mitcham have looked up a division for potential recruits, and have come up with five players looking to get more time playing senior footy.
It’s a good crop of players with Premier Division experience, and amongst the five of them they played 24 games of footy in the seniors, and 58 games in the Premier development sides during 2023. Winterton is keen to see the impact that each one of them will have as new Tigers in 2024.
“We’ve been able to recruit a couple of guys from Premier Division, who were looking for more senior chances. Nat Barnes who’s come across from Blackburn, and they made the finals in Premier Division, so it’s not easy to do (play senior games at that level). He’s been a real standout for us on the track. He’s in our top couple of runners, he’s really composed when he’s gets the ball, and uses it really well. So I think he can have an impact for us.”
“Flynn Maguire from who’s come across from Vermont was starved for opportunities last year, obviously they made it through to the Grand Final, so a very hard team to break into. He’s that prototypical wingman, he’s 190odd cm, he runs really well, kicks the ball really well, so I think he can have an impact for us.”
“Jack Conlan who’s come across from Doncaster, played in the last half of the year in the seniors over there. He’s a really crafty smart forward who knows where the goals are.
“Mick Silvaggi, who’s also come across from Vermont, again starved of opportunities, looking to play some more senior footy. He’s put in a really big preseason. Unfortunately he does leave in the second half of the year to go overseas, but that won’t be held against him, he’s played some good footy in the practise games, and can have an impact for us.”
“And the same for Xander Tassell, also from Blackburn, he played a couple of games in the seniors for them last year. He’s just looking for some more opportunities. He’ll have a big impact for us as a key back. Those five guys will be good to have been able to recruit to the club. We identified certain types of players, and age brackets as well, those guys are around 21 or 22, so they fit the right age profile for us, as well as being what we were looking for.”
While there were stars aplenty for Mitcham last year, there have been a few players lurking on the list waiting for their opportunity for a number of reasons. A full-strength Mitcham looks like a hard team to break into, Winterton predicts that the trio of Alex Barton-Smith, Bailey Cowman, and Nathan Crampton will make it very hard for some players from the Premiership winning side to retain their position in the best 22.
“Alex Barton-Smith, who won our Best and Fairest two years ago – he only played two games last year, he had a bad shoulder injury. He’s obviously a quality player, so I’m looking forward to him having a full season. Bailey Cowman, a similar thing, we got him across last year from Wantirna South, and he had a really good first half of the year, but then he went overseas in the second half. And getting Jake Parente back to the team full time as well will obviously assist Bailey. Instead of getting the number one or two key defender, he might get the third defender and cause problems for the opposition.”
“One guy who I think will have a big break-out year is Nathan Crampton. He played 15 senior games last year, and when Jake Parente came back late in the year, he obviously pushed somebody out of the team in the finals, and that was Nathan,”
“He was certainly unlucky to get pushed out of the team, but he’s come back this preseason as fit as he’s ever been, and he’s been able to play across the first couple of practise games. He’s 21, so with that seasoning under his belt, and another preseason, and he’s looked really good in the practise games, so I’m predicting him to have a breakout year for us.”
Mitcham find themselves in an uncommon situation for a Division 1 club, with the opportunity to go back-to-back. They know how to do it, and Winterton is optimistic that his boys can replicate what they managed last year.
“That’s obviously the aim, it’s bloody hard to do it though! It’s a bit of an unusual situation for a Division 1 team to stay in the same division after they win it. And now you obviously become the hunted, everyone that comes up against you wants to knock off the reigning premier. It’s certainly not going to be easy, we don’t underestimate the task that we’ve got in front of us. But we’re of the belief that we’re certainly good enough to do it. You’ve just got to be able to put the runs on the board throughout the season, qualify for the finals, and then it’s three to four weeks of playing your brand of footy at the right time of year. And we believe we can come away with the premiership if we’re able to do that.”
Mitcham begins their premiership defence in a mouth-watering Grand Final rematch under lights. The Tigers will host South Belgrave for a twilight game at Walker Park on Saturday the 6th of April.
Mitcham will also field a women’s team, this time for their third year. It’s been a rather successful run for the Tigers girls, as they have played finals in each of their first two years. After a year in Division 4, which featured a Grand Final appearance, they return to 3rd Division, with Jess Grace to lead them once again.
She’s optimistic that strong numbers on the training track throughout preseason will translate to a strong performance in 2024.
“It’s been really good, we’ve got 32 on our list, so we’ve had lots of numbers down, and training sessions have been really good. We’ve been able to add in a few extra players on top of what we had last year, so it’s exciting to be able to jump into the season and know that we’ve got quite a strong list.”
The Tigers outdid themselves during 2023 by making the Grand Final. Along the way they eliminated Fairpark, and their old rivals Coldstream, before being beaten by a very strong Mooroolbark side in the decider.
“From a team perspective, we went in to the season without any expectations. We did better than we expected to in our first season, so we wanted to head into the year with the mentality that we just wanted to enjoy our footy, take the wins where they came. Obviously keep improving and focussing on the injury prevention side of things, but we definitely stepped up a level to what we thought we were going to. To make it to a grand final was awesome.”
Before taking over as coach, Grace suffered an ACL injury during the 2022 season. She’s taken the good with the bad, and credits the time away from playing as a great opportunity for herself to step into the coaching position, and devote herself fully to that aspect of footy.
“For myself, having an injury is not something you’d usually say is a good thing, but I think in some ways it was a blessing in disguise. I probably wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to take the girls on if I didn’t have that injury, and have the time to focus purely on the coaching side. I really enjoyed it, and the girls have embraced it really well. I loved it.”
Grace has since recovered from the injury, and will be a playing coach this year. This will provide a new perspective for the coaching staff, and she backs the assistant coaches she has around her to synergise with this new perspective, and communicate accordingly.
“It’s a little bit different to the usual setup. So I’ve got a really strong assistant coaching line-up behind me. I’ve got a senior assistant, and three or four other assistant coaches, so our senior assistant will run the bench on gameday. Our communication throughout the week, and on gameday is going to be key, but we’ve had that all preseason. We’re all on the same page, we know where we’re going with it, and I’ve got the trust in them to be able to go out and play footy, but also see the game a little bit differently to how they’re able to see it, and have both sides of the coaching – on the field and on the bench.”
Making a Grand Final has whet the girls’ appetite for future success, but that’s needed to be tempered, as Grace is encouraging her players to focus on each week as it comes.
“The girls have come into the preseason very hungry, and at the start there was a lot of talk about wanting to go that one step further, but as we’ve continued training, we’re not focusing on the Grand Final, we’re focusing one game at a time. Each game at a time, and each competitor at a time – we’ve got to be able to play 14 games of footy before we even think about finals. We’re hungry to get there, but we’ve got a long way to go before we do.”
Mitcham came into the 2023 season with a focus on fun, and enjoyment of footy. That element is still very much there, but the competitive spirit has taken centre stage ahead of this season.
“No one is going to be playing this sport if they’re not enjoying it. So there is still that side of it. At the start and end of training, and when we’re on the track we’re using our time, and we’re making the most of it. You only get an hour twice a week for training. So you use that, and then you socialise afterwards. But the competitive side is probably looking a lot stronger than it was this time last year, so it’s really exciting.”
The strong culture at the Tigers has led to a good level of retention. It’s a great sign for the club that no players have gone off to rival clubs.
“I think we’ve lost four players from last year, and we’ve gained about eight or nine. So our list is looking massive. You’re going to get those girls that get injuries, or go on placements, we’ve got a couple heading off to Europe at some point, as it goes. But the numbers are really strong, we haven’t lost many, and we haven’t lost any to other clubs, which is really nice. We’re really happy with our player retention.”
“If you make the environment enjoyable and light-hearted with the competitive side of it as well… We are still quite a new side, so we’re looking at developing, but not trying to jump from A to Z really quickly. We’re able to slowly build it up, and I think that’s what brings the players in and makes them want to stick around.”
There’s plenty of fresh talent at Mitcham. Britt Wolf from Donvale managed 5 senior games in a Premier Division side, and with her comes plenty of other prospects from different areas of the sporting world.
“One that has come from another club is Britt Wolf from Donvale. But other than her, most of our (new) players are new to the game but are really athletic people who have been playing sport their whole life. Georgia Baldwin has come from a basketball background, she’s just moved back to Australia from being over in America for college. She’s got that really sporty background, and girls who come from that sort of thing pick up the game really quickly.”
Grace is excited about the rest of her list carrying over from 2023, but a few rate specific mentions, including the Division 4 Best and Fairest winner Nicole Akers.
“To be honest, I think our whole list is looking pretty exciting. You’ve got your players like Nic Akers who won the league Best and Fairest last year, who will be able to step up again. We’ve got a few girls who have taken on leadership positions, and have really been pushing this preseason. Megan Fogarty is one who’s really impressed us all, and Nat Squillace – we’ve been able to keep her, she was umming and ahhing about whether she’d play. But she’s a massive asset, and she’s all in now. So we’ve got a few of them – as I said our whole list is exciting, but there’s definitely players who are going that step further from where they were last year.”
“We’re looking with very open eyes, and we’re looking forward to what the season brings for us.”
The Mitcham women’s team begins their 2024 season with a match against Croydon North MLOC at Hughes Park, on Saturday the 20th of April.
