By Nick Creely
First and foremost, Berwick Springs coach Rodney Benstead wants two fundamental things from his group ahead of its inaugural senior season: competitiveness and reliability.
The results – in time – will take care of themselves.
It’s all about connection and ensuring that the first crop of senior footballers are not only leading the way in the present, but helping forge the future.
The 2020 season was supposed to be the Titans’ first plunge into senior football in the AFL Outer East competition, but they’ve had to steadily wait in the wings, prepare the list, and build some momentum ahead of what will be a memorable Division 1 season opener against Belgrave on 17 April.
“You can just feel it at the intra-clubs, the guys just want to play footy – last year, it was hard to get a gauge, we had a practice match, (and) got comprehensively beaten,” Benstead said.
“I think the time off has done us well – we’ve probably brought in another 12 to 15 players, and I think for us, we just want to be competitive and reliable, and I’m adamant we can be that.
“We aren’t placing too many expectations on wins and losses, we just have to be competitive – we’ve got a list to be competitive, and that’s the starting point.
“The pre-season has given us learnings and connection, and all that sort of stuff, and it’ll be good for us – we’ll work five games before round one, so we really want to be ready.”
With a strong list of juniors graduating into senior football, and a healthy re-commitment from the bulk of their 2020 list, the Titans have added further depth and brought in players to help fill key roles within the side.
In 2019, when the club fielded an under 19s side in the Premier Division, it registered six wins to finish seventh on the table, but more importantly the club unearthed its next crop of senior footballers to go alongside its mature core.
From a recruitment front, the club is excited by what new recruit, midfielder Daniel Ousley can produce, with the ex-Rowville player expected to be a major cog in the side. Ousley played 13 senior games in the Eastern Football League’s top flight in 2019, and has a heap of senior football experience.
Jack Day, Nathan Collins and Jordan Collins from Clayton have all recently put pen to paper, with the latter winning his club’s 2018 best and fairest, while exciting tall prospect Bailey Delves – who featured heavily for Narre Warren last season – has also signed on.
Dean Waterstone from Kilsyth, Trent Isbister from Lyndale, and Rowville pair Jack McGregor and Nick Williams are other notable off-season recruits.
“We’ve started to get some serious momentum, which is really positive,” Benstead said of the list.
“We think we’ve got some really good players.
“We probably don’t have the stars or the big names, but I believe we can put a 22 on the field that can be ultra-competitive.
“Everyone needs to play their role and contribute.”
Benstead said that he wants to create a cohesive group and implement an eye-catching game style as they steadily prepare for the Magpies – who finished seventh in 2019 but have recruited strongly.
He believes it’s anyone’s premiership to win in 2021.
“What I’ve noticed, and I’ve said it to my players, we want to develop a game style around the way we want to play, but we won’t be scared if someone is getting off the chain to go and make them accountable,” he said.
“In saying that, we want to really work on our style – we’ve heard a bit about Belgrave, and we’ll have a good understanding – but no one in this division has won a grand final for a while, so everyone is in it.
“I believe it’ll be a really even year in Division 1, and it’ll provide a lot of opportunities – if you’re consistent, reliable who knows.”
But another element of Benstead’s coaching is a stern focus on fitness, ensuring there is ample depth and fostering elite standards at the football club.
“I’ve prepared the boys – my background is in fitness, and it’ll be a survival of the fittest (this season),” he said.
“Teams will get injuries, so you have to have depth in your list, so we’ve looked at everything.
“We want to be as scientific as we possibly can at this level, we don’t want to leave any stone unturned.
“We want to create an elite program at Berwick Springs – we have great juniors coming through, so we want to engage all of our players in the program.”
The Titans’ away clash to open the season against Belgrave will start at 2.10pm, with the club to play its first senior home game against Gembrook Cockatoo on 1 May.
