By Jonty Ralphsmith
A perfect storm of factors worked against Doveton in its season-ending 4.12 36 to 10.9 69 preliminary final loss to East Malvern in Division 2 of the Southern Football Netball League on Saturday.
Injuries early in the game to key pillars Sam Muirhead and Matt Clarke, who have added great presence to the Doves forward line in 2024, limited Doveton’s ability to capitalise on momentum.
Those absences followed the late withdrawal of James Canty, Brodie Howie’s injury in the qualifying final against East Malvern, and Ash Brown’s injury in the second semi were also felt.
“It’s still fairly raw,” coach Matt Stapleton said on Monday.
“It shows how important it is to get it right at this time of the year.
“Up until round 16, things were tracking well and from there our performances (motly) weren’t up to the level we expect of ourselves.”
North Melbourne VFL-listed Deakyn Smith was also missing throughout the finals series due to playing too many state league games, per SFNL rules.
That changed the dynamic in the midfield, which showed in the two finals losses where Doveton was soundly beaten around the ball.
When they did manage to snag brief periods of ascendancy, they were unable to apply scoreboard pressure, kicking 14.39 across its three finals.
That was particularly noteworthy during a dominant third quarter of the preliminary final on Saturday, when the Doves had territory for an extended period but kicked 0.5.
“Shots are so hard to come by in pressure-filled games so you have to take your opportunities,” Stapleton said.
“We worked on it throughout the year, it was a fairly consistent part of our program.
“I’m big on repetition and having confidence in your technique while there is also a mental component.”
It’s the third consecutive season Doveton has entered finals as serious contenders for the flag, and second straight preliminary final loss after falling short in the 2022 grand final.
Doveton is now 2-5 in finals since that grand final loss but Stapleton is confident his team isn’t mentally fragile.
“It’s a valid question…I’d probably say no,” Stapleton said after careful thought.
“It comes down to having your game in order and I feel like if there going to be repercussions from losing it in 2022, it would have been last year.
“It was a clean slate this year with plenty of clean faces around the group, we just couldn’t get it going at the right time this year but I felt we were well positioned.”
Stapleton has been reappointed coach for the 2025 season.
