By Jonty Ralphsmith
Death, taxes and Keysborough going out in straight sets of Southern Football Netball League Division Two finals.
That’s the sentiment from a large section of the Southern footy landscape, with Keysborough having failed to win a final in the last five seasons despite reaching September on each occasion.
With Tim Werner and Matt Carnelley among a host of names who won’t return to the club in 2023, talk of a fall down the ladder has amplified, which is fuelling coach Chris Smith.
“I love that everyone’s written us off and we’re excited about it and we say ‘bring it on’,” he said.
“People see the names that will be missing and what they have done for our club but, in reality, they were older and it would have been another year into those guys if they played this year. At some point there needs to be change.”
The demographic of the ‘Burra’ list was a major discourse at the end of last season.
Backline playing-coach Anthony Brannan, 37-years-old, didn’t miss all year and his limited impact at the back end was a classic example of a veteran being overplayed.
Expect he and others like Callum Fletcher to be managed throughout 2023 to get the best out of them and have them peaking at the right time of the year.
“We still think we have a capable side able to compete, but it is about managing these older guys so if we make finals, we’re not limping in and getting obliterated,” Smith said.
“We’ll play with the mentality of soldier-in, solider-out, blokes will come in and play a role.”
REPLACING CARNELLEY
The first headache for opposition teams coming up against Keysborough last year was how to combat seasoned twin key forwards Matt Carnelley and Tom Shaw.
Each kicked more than 50 goals in 2022 – no other ‘Burra’ player passed the 20-goal mark.
Shaw is going around again – with his brother, Kieran, a veteran defender who comes into the Keysborough lineup this season – but Carnelley has hung up the boots.
He leaves a 1000+ goal absence.
Smith hopes forwards like Michael Ashman, Jeff Humphries, Cooper Shephard, Aaron Walton and Brenton Wells can all contribute to give Keysborough a more even spread.
“We want to protect the footy a bit more rather than getting scored against heavily on turnover,” Smith said.
“At times we can be a slower midfield so our preseason focus has been on handballing to create speed on the game. If we can get a few handballs out to a runner, we look quicker, rather than having guys try and burst through.
“If you do that, you’ll get caught every time.
“Last year I told the boys to have a crack through the middle and this year, we will try to kick it wider so if we turn it over, there is not the easy kick back in.”
HANDY INS
Cooper Shephard and Brenton Wells have both come across from Pakenham ahead of 2023.
Shephard, who was the clear standout in Keysborough’s practice match against Division One club Springvale Districts, provides running power and a strong frame.
Wells, meanwhile, comes in as forward-line coach and offers toughness and pace inside 50 as a player.
With Tim Werner among the retirements at the end of 2022, Wells will have an important role both from a coaching and playing point-of-view.
As well as that pair, Aaron Walton will be a handy inclusion – and as close to a perfect Carnelley replacement as exists.
He’s a four-time premiership player and three time best-and-fairest winner in the Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League who has performed on the big stage in the past.
Competitive key position player Brad Doyle also comes in.
PRESEASON
Keysborough chose to play practice matches against Officer and Springvale Districts, both which they were expected to lose convincingly based on the standard gulf between competitions.
With players missing, the scoreline got out-of-hand in each game as players who are yet to debut at senior level were blooded.
“We can go out and play a couple of lesser sides and get confidence from winning those, or we can take confidence away from the fact that this is where we want to get to, and if we can move the footy better against these sides, and get the game on our terms, that’s a good thing,” Smith said.
“We thought we moved the ball against a solid Officer outfit well at times, had control of the game in patches, we could cut through them when our senior players had their hands on the footy, we just broke down with a young forward line.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jeff Humphries is the star of the show at Keysborough.
He finished third in the league best-and-fairest in 2022 as a clean, explosive midfielder.
This season, he’ll look to use his assets to burst through and feed it to the outside runners to give Keysborough the overlap it wants.
A strong season from him will go a long way to the ‘Burra’ exceeding expectations in 2023.
Leader Tom Anderton is another crucial ingredient in that midfield mix who possesses similar traits and is a strong body, while Nick Beer is arguably the best of the lot.
Coming off a knee injury, Dylan McKenzie will add a hardness to the midfield, while Cooper Balic adds a defensive edge to the on-ball mix.
Behind the ball, Simon Marchese will be looking to propel his game to new heights in 2023.
A dedicated player who completed a VFL preseason with Casey, he has worked closely with backline coach Brannan to develop into an eminent running half-back.
“He’s very watchable and has a lot of x-factor,” Smith said.
“He could be one of the better players in the comp. If he could play AFL, he’d play AFL, he wants to be the best he can be.”
Dylan Webb plays a similar role and is rarely beaten one-one with those within Keysborough seeing him as among the competition’s most underrated players.
Keysborough junior Matt Collett returns this season and is another name to keep an eye on for Chris Smith’s men in 2023, as is defender Matthew Haynes, who has had a strong preseason.
KEYSBOROUGH FIXTURE
Round 1: Saturday 15 April v Highett (Home)
Round 2: Saturday 22 April v Skye (Away)
Round 3: Saturday 29 April v Caulfield (Home)
Round 4: Saturday 6 May v Murrumbeena (Away)
Round 5: Saturday 13 May v Black Rock (Home)
Round 6: Saturday 20 May v East Malvern (Home)
Round 7: Saturday 27 May v East Brighton (Away)
Round 8: Saturday 3 June v Doveton Doves (Home)
Round 9: Saturday 17 June v Hampton Park (Away)
Round 10: Saturday 24 June v Highett (Away)
Round 11: Saturday 1 July v Skye (Home)
Round 12: Saturday 8 July v Caulfield (Away)
Round 13: Saturday 15 July v Murrumbeena (Home)
Round 14: Saturday 22 July v Black Rock (Away)
Round 15: Saturday 29 July v East Malvern (Away)
Round 16: Saturday 5 August v East Brighton (Home)
Round 17: Saturday 12 August v Doveton (Away)
Round 18: Saturday 19 August v Hampton Park (Home)
