By DAVID NAGEL
IS Doveton any good?
It’s the question that anyone with any sort of interest in the South East Football League has been asking since the start of the season. Well, finally we get some answers this week when the Doves travel to Holm Park Reserve to take on Beaconsfield -the reigning champs.
The Doves, who took top honours in the recruiting stakes this pre-season, are undefeated after three rounds but could quite easily be languishing. Having survived a scare against Hampton Park in the season opener, they’ve fallen across the line against Tooradin and ROC, and that form, let’s be honest, it didn’t stack up too well on the weekend.
So this is … Does Doveton have gears or not?
The Doves were pin-point with their recruiting this year; they wanted a ruckman who could match it with the best, a consolidation down the spine, while its courageous captain-coach Shannon Henwood needed a well-earned chop-out through the midfield.
In comes a gun-ruckman in Russell Gabriel, the spine is stiffened with the return of Jarrad Boumann and Nathan Wilson, while the as yet unseen Sam Raru seems the ideal type for a chop-out.
The tools are there; now let’s see if they’ve improved.
Surprisingly, considering they’ve been sitting at opposite ends of the ladder for quite some time, the Doves have split the last six meetings between the sides, three each, smack-bang down the middle.
In five of those six contests the Doves have been able to restrict the Eagles to 10 goals or less, the only abnormality occurring in the corresponding clash last year … Beaconsfield 21.15(141) to Doveton 4.4(28) at Holm Park Reserve.
Ouch … a repeat of that result would set the Doves back on their heels and create factions.
The obvious highlight of this clash is going to be the battle in the ruck between Gabriel and Beaconsfield’s Scott Meyer — Doveton’s Norm Walker Medallist from 2009 against the winner of the last two years.
This contest would sit comfortably on any VFL or Interstate venue outside the AFL, the magnificently athletic Meyer taking on the brute-strength and ring-craft of a man who has been there and done it all before.
(Ed note – Please play interleague you two blokes)
Meyer’s greatest ally -apart from his talent- has been his skipper Daniel Mislicki, who feeds off the big-man like the tax-man on pay day. Mislicki was already a champion, don’t worry about that, but the inclusion of Meyer has seen the veteran elevate his game even higher.
If Gabriel can match Meyer, that makes life easy for Jordan Temopoulos, the Doves’ number-one tagger who will no doubt get the stopping role on Mislicki.
The problem for Doveton is that Beaconsfield is so even, if Temopoulos limits Mislicki, then Tyson Mitchem, Damien Johnston, Kane Hughes, Ben Kerrigan, Jesse Linkins, Damien Szwaja, Brad Hollick or Josh Dodsworth are all likely to bob up, and that’s without mentioning a talented band of youngsters.
The likes of Henwood, Mitch Viney, Andrew Green, Phil Nanfra and Michael Henry are going to need to be at the top of their game on the weekend.
Boumann and Wilson will get the key-defensive jobs on Taylor Joyce and Shaun Pollard but, in Simon Black’s absence, who gets Chris Worner, who has shown already that he needs close attention from opposition defences.
Up the other end of the ground, can Doves’ full-forward Ricky Hayes cope with Daniel Battaglin, and if not, are Mitch Pierce, Cal Pattie and Michael ‘Pickles’ Henry up to kicking a winning score. Daniel Johnson will likely get the dangerous Henry when he goes forward … they have all bases covered the champs.
Doveton has 13 goal-kickers this year, second only to Pakenham, and will need to use that spread to put pressure on a very miserly and organised defence.
But it’s Beaconsfield by 34 points.
