By RUSSELL BENNETT
SKIPPER Corrie Wilson couldn’t put it into words and club matriarch Jenny Davis didn’t even try. They just let their premiership medals do all the talking.
Saturday’s Southern Football League Division-3 Grand Final against Carrum Patterson Lakes was one of redemption for the Doveton Eagles. It signified the club’s return from the brink – from just a couple of years ago when its reputation was shot to pieces, banished from the league for a series of ugly on and off-field incidents.
“It’s been a really long journey back,” said Jenny, the Eagles president.
“There’s been a lot of changes along the way and I don’t like that because I’m a creature of habit.
“But having said that, there were things that had to be changed down at the Eagles nest otherwise we simply couldn’t have continued as a club.
“The boys embraced it, the leadership has been ruling them and they’ve been doing really well.”
The club’s culture was completely overhauled, yet Jenny and her son Paul – the Eagles coach – have had to battle ever since.
“I had to speak to all the presidents of every single other club in the league and explain to them what had happened and the things we put in place to bring us back and give ourselves a real chance,” Jenny said.
“Everywhere you go – Doveton people are scum… dogs… thugs.
“I hate that perception. They don’t know us. When I moved to Doveton 26 years ago, I was a mess. Paul was nine and my daughter was 14 and I hated the idea of moving there.
“But now I wouldn’t leave the place. I love it. It’s been magical. It’s all one big community and the football club is the same.”
Most Eagles life members have been waiting since 1995 to once again taste premiership glory. The club’s inaugural flag came in its first season in the SFL. Its second, fittingly, has come in just its second year since the club was ejected by the league. In a perfect curtain raiser, the Eagles’ reserves triumphed too.
Premiers’ captain Corrie Wilson was in a state of disbelief straight after Saturday’s decider at Cheltenham’s Jack Barker Oval. With his side now making the step up to Division 2, all he could say was a series of one word bursts – yet they described exactly how the whole club was feeling … “euphoria” … “relief” … “unbelievable”.
