Eagles emerge as a threat

Beaconsfield coach Leigh McQuillen (centre) believes his side hasn''t been closer to a premiership in years. 195285 Picture: ROB CAREW

By Nick Creely

Beaconsfield coach Leigh McQuillen views 2018 as a lost year for his football side, and hollow in many ways.

Last year’s semi-final loss to Cranbourne still burns his side, and it’s now driving them towards a run at the AFL Outer East Premier Division premiership, and has seen them resurrect a season that was almost teetering at 1-3.

But now – after six straight wins and a chance at claiming a top-two spot – the Eagles are fast becoming one of the most daunting challenges in the competition after knocking off premiership contenders Narre Warren, at home on Saturday.

The most impressive aspect of their game this season has been its stingy defence, with the Eagles conceding an impressive 51.3 points per game to arguably be the most disciplined side in the competition.

With this list – and the momentum garnered from a stunning patch of form – McQuillen believes that his club is as close as its been in years to knocking the mighty Berwick and Narre Warren off its perch in the pointy end of the season.

“We’re closer, way closer than what we have been – the first year was the list I inherited, the second was a consolidation year, and this year, we haven’t given a debut to anyone, but we’re in a way better position because of our list,” he said.

“When you look at our side, we’re better equipped than what we’ve been for a long time, and I think Scotty Meyer will be like a recruit when he comes back, and then you’ve got Lachie Modica who will re-join the side in the next few weeks too, so I feel like we’re on a build that’s gaining momentum by the week.

“We believe we’ve got the list to do it (win the premiership), but it’s about belief – I’m 100 per cent confident we’re good enough, but we’ve got to make the guys believe it.

“For us, it’ll be about doing what we can, not worrying about who we’re playing, and just playing the brand we want to play.”

An area that – according to McQuillen – the Eagles have been ruthless in is selection, with a number of talented players filtering in and out of the senior side and having to really earn their spot in the ones, a ‘luxury’ that he believes he hasn’t enjoyed in years.

But, when the time comes, McQuillen said anyone that is playing in reserves or under-18s will be ready to pull on the jumper and take the next step.

“We’ve changed our training structure now, so our seniors train fully with our development side, and in our match sim, they play our senior boys,” he said.

“We know that with guys like Riley Boland, Jamie Plumridge and others, when they get a chance, they’ll be ready to go, and when the times comes, they’ll be ready to rock and go.

“I feel like because they train with us 90 per cent of the week, that it’ll be enough to hold them in good stead and it’ll be enough for them to come up and play strong senior footy.”

McQuillen’s said that the semi-final loss to Cranbourne, as well as a Round 1 loss to the Eagles this year has been the catalyst for its sharp turnaround, and knocking off Steve O’Brien’s group a few weeks ago in the driving rain has given him the indication that they’ve been able to learn from their past mistakes and forge forward.

“These losses not as bad now, but they’ve been burning us for ages,” he said.

“We rate Cranbourne, and I think Obi (Steve O’Brien) coaches them really well, and he coached them really well in that final, because they did change the way we play and we didn’t adapt to that.

“We felt like we were the stronger side, so the burning of that has driven us this year, we spoke in the pre-season about that final, and at a minimum, we should have made a prelim and given ourselves a chance against Narre to make a grand final.

“It felt like a lost year, and it was really hollow.

“So we’ve used that, and now we’re head down, bum up, and we’re more workmanlike now.

“We haven’t given debuts to the kids like we have in the last two years, and we’ve backed the cattle, and the burning desire is now that we’ve got that win over Cranbourne, we need more challenges.

“I feel like we’ll push ahead with our best side, we won’t be holding anyone back, and we’ll continue playing the brand we play.”

Those challenges are going to come thick and fast as the year progresses, with a crunch clash against Berwick to come in the coming month, while an away trip to Wandin beforehand will be a massive test for his club on a smaller deck.

McQuillen said that despite Narre Warren and Berwick looking ominous and being the main threats, the challenges provided by the Yarra Valley clubs are just as important.

“Obviously, Upwey and Healesville are probably a fair way off it, but I’m impressed with Woori, but it’s a different brand of footy,” he said.

“If you look at the four former SEFNL sides, they all play open footy, run hard and play quick brands – Woori don’t play like that. They are tough and hard, and have some real junk yard players.

“Then you have Wandin, who on their home deck can trouble anyone, but on the bigger decks can’t handle it.

“But I think Olinda is almost the best of the lot, they have a lot of variations in their game, and are really well coached – against us they held the footy, and tried to play a different brand.

“When you look at those three, they do provide a lot of competition, but it’s totally different footy.”

While concerned by some of the lop-sided results at stages this year – particularly when former SEFNL clubs welcome Yarra Valley clubs down to its ground, McQuillen said it’s merely a teething problem, and can sort itself out with smart list management.

“The hardest thing for the Yarra Valley sides was the list, our lists are built on having runners – when you look at our side, we’ve got a lot of blokes that can get on their bike and go, and they’ve recruited for big bodies, small grounds for so many years,” he said.

“So it’s a teething problem for them in the first year, and I think Olinda has more of those players that can adapt on any ground, and being coached the way they do, they’re able to change it.

“The big grounds have troubled them, but it’s because of their list – it’s easy for a running side to adapt to smaller grounds, but for the bigger bodies it can certainly be tougher to cover the ground.”

The Eagles will enjoy a week off as the Premier Division has a bye, but will return on 20 July with an away clash against Wandin.