By Hayley Wildes
There is something exciting brewing at Power Reserve.
The Doveton Eagles are hell bent on proving their worth in Division 2 of the SFNL, after winning the Division 3 Premiership last year.
President of the club, Shane McGrath talked about the expectations heading into the 2018 season.
“We’re hoping to solidify our Division 2 position and stabilise as a Division 2 club. We’ve worked pretty hard to get out of Division 3 – we’ve done it once before in 2014 and weren’t quite able to go up a Division and hold it.” McGrath said.
“We feel like we’re in a much better position this time around. We feel like the club has come a long way through a lot of hard work from a lot of people, we certainly don’t intend on going backwards, put it that way.”
That strengthened position on-field has a lot to do with the returning Premiership stars and plenty of class added into the mix.
Nick Battle has crossed from the Doves and having played TAC Cup with the Dandenong Stingrays and VFL with Casey and Frankston, is set to have a massive 2018 for the Eagles.
Talking about those who have stood out over the preseason, two names – Battle and Russell Robertson – come to mind for McGrath.
“[Battle] is a gun onballer and I think he’ll have a real impact on our competition – he’s a running machine and got good skills to go with it.” McGrath said.
“Robbo [Russell Robertson] last year was very injury-riddled, he carried sore ribs for three quarters of the season and kind of limped home in the end, but he was still more than serviceable – I think he averaged five or six goals a game.”
“He has managed to get a preseason under his belt this year and work has allowed him to be available every week, so we’re really expecting big things from him this year.”
With new coaches at helm; Clint Wilson (head coach) and Ryan Hendy (playing assistant coach), the Eagles boast an abundance of experience and knowledge.
Wilson is well-known to the Eagles, having played in the 2013 Division 3 Premiership and coached the team in 2014. His return has been welcomed.
“He’s got a good connection to the club and knows the playing group really well.” McGrath said.
“With that in mind, he’s probably able to identify our weaknesses and what we need to work on. He takes his footy seriously and brings a level of expectation that hopefully we will thrive on.”
Wilson is excited to back with the Eagles and the opportunity to coach the team in Division 2 was enticing.
“I’ve been out of footy and was always going to coach again. I thought we’re going up and the footy club is in a really good position, what better way to come back than to take on a Premiership side and try to be a really strong Division 2 club?” Wilson said.
“We went up last time I was coach and we were underprepared and we lost half the side, so I’m really excited to see what we can do this time around.”
