Bonbeach on the rise
PENINSULA LEAGUE
By Toe Punt BONBEACH is a better football team than it was in 2016, are more disciplined and have added maturity, according to Chelsea coach Brett Dunne. In the stand-alone Peninsula Division game on Saturday, traditional rivals Chelsea and Bonbeach went toe to toe at Chelsea Reserve. Just six points separated the sides at quarter time and the margin was just 19 points at the long interval, however, the Sharks booted 10 goals to five after the break to win 19.9 (123) to 11.6 (72). Trent Dennis-Lane booted nine goals in the match, including four in the first quarter. Dunne said the Sharks were “really good”. “Jackson Casey and Macca (Shane McDonald) got off the leash in the middle in the second half and really set the scene,” Dunne said. “Dennis Lane kicked four out of their
first five. He was certainly a handful. Four players had a go at him but he was a class above. He’s a really good leadup player and they hit him. You can’t give him too many chances because he kicks straight. I was certainly happier when they pushed him higher up the ground,” he said. Dunne said he was happy with his team’s performance in the first half. “Our guys played a really good first half again. We can take on the opposition’s game style early but we can’t impress our own style enough,” Dunne said. “Bonbeach’s run and receive handball is one of the best and highest in the competition. We took it away from them in the first half but they got it going in the second half. “They were really disciplined. They’ve got some maturity in the group now and are right up there with the best in the competition,” Dunne said. Bonbeach coach Steve Hughes said
he was happy to play the game on Saturday and have a bye ‘in the bank’ later in the year. “We were pretty keen to make that happen. I think a rest later is more valuable,” Hughes said. “We were happy to come away with the four points. “We lost Justin Bennett a couple of weeks ago, we went in without Mark Tyrrell and Gary Carpenter got concussed before half time. Our rotations were down. “However, we were able to throw Lachy Gill and Beau Bailey in the middle and with Greg Vassallo, we were able to maintain our advantage in there.” Hughes said Chelsea had improved greatly from the team it played six weeks ago. “You can’t compare them from where they were then. They controlled the game against Frankston YCW early and did again on Saturday,” Hughes said.
ing as well as Sorrento, you can challenge the defensive side of their game, however, they are so well structured all over the ground,” Moore said. Sorrento booted 26.18 (174) to 9.7 (61), which included eight goals in the third quarter and nine majors in the last. Chris Dawes booted 10 goals in a masterclass performance. Moore said Dawes was “exceptional”. “Dawes is just a wonderful athlete. It didn’t matter who we played on him, he just monstered them. He’s a specimen – he’s quick, strong, athletic – he’s got it all. There’s no one in the competition who will be able to stop him,” Moore said. Rye went into the game with 13 players under the age of 21, including six Under 19s and an Under 17. “There’s no doubt we went in a little too inexperienced for Sorrento but that’s where we are at as a footy club right now,” Moore said. “It’s these kids who have helped us win games of footy in the past month. “Playing sides like Sorrento is a
wonderful experience for them. Take 17-year-old Joel Wills for instance, he’s played on the likes of Colin McVeigh and Keegan Downie. On Saturday he played on Nick Corp. Corp said to me after the game, ‘you’ve got a beauty there’ and I replied, he’s 17, which astounded him. “It’s an exciting time for our club.” Sorrento play Frankston and Hastings in successive weeks after playing Devon Meadows this week. It’s only then will we get a real read on the Sharks. On Sunday, Dromana made it four wins on the trot with an emphatic 61 point win over Red Hill. The Tigers’ win moved them into the top five for the first time, pushing out its opponent Red Hill. The Hillmen have now lost four of its past six games and are as low as they have been in years. Red Hill’s only wins in the past six weeks have been against Tyabb and Pearcedale. It has now lost to Somerville and Dromana, teams it is competing against for a spot in the top five.
Picture: Andrew Hurst
Sorrento Sharks are the team to beat NEPEAN LEAGUE
By Toe Punt SORRENTO is one of the best teams that has taken to the footy field in a number of years, according to Rye coach Josh Moore. Moore and his Demon charges were handed their second 100-plus point hiding at the hands of the Sharks on Saturday, prompting Moore to make the call. He said while he rated Frankston Bombers “highly”, he thought that his old team was the side to beat. “We’ve played all of the sides in the top five and Sorrento is the one to beat with Frankston the only team we’ve played that I think can challenge them right now,” Moore said. “We’ve made some steady improvement over the past month since we last played Sorrento but they were again able to beat us convincingly. “If they did have one weakness, it would be in the ruck, however, they excel everywhere else. “With most teams when they are go-
Picture: Scott Memery
AFL South East derail footy season By Toe Punt PENINSULA, Nepean and South East Football Netball Clubs (SENFL) seasons are on the brink of being derailed as a result of the senior football competition review handed down by AFL South East last week. The review has taken over discussion at football games, at football clubs and via social media and no one is clear what the future holds. And AFL SE isn’t helping. AFL SE General Manager John Anderson has declared that there would be “no comment” coming from the top office until after the recommendations are pushed down. However, the lack of transparency and communication from AFL SE is confusing clubs and more importantly, the communities who support local football. The two options of the review were:
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Frankston Times 12 June 2017
• A full divisional structure initially comprising three divisions with promotion/relegation between each. • A partial divisional structure also comprising three divisions, with a top division then two divisions below based on geography. Since the review was released, club presidents and heavyweights have been meeting behind closed doors in a bid to determine what their options are “when” the league hands down its verdict. While the SENFL are not fully supportive of divisional football, they are looking for a more competitive option than they currently have, where the likes of Cranbourne, Berwick, Beaconsfield and Narre Warren dominate the competition, while Hampton Park and Tooradin are hardly competitive. A former SENFL president told MP News last week that he believed Cranbourne and Berwick had been in
talks with Eastern Football League, while Hampton Park and Tooradin had spoken to Southern Football League. It was also suggested that Pakenham had been in talks with West Gippsland Football League. In Peninsula and Nepean, all 22 clubs are categoric that they do not support divisional football, despite AFL SE claiming otherwise. Sorrento FC had talked about joining AFL Barwon, although that region squashed that idea last week. However, the president did say that AFL SE needs to be ready for a fight should they push divisional football. The majority of Peninsula and Nepean clubs do support promotion-relegation within the two divisions. SENFL Clubs moved away from the MPNFL two years ago because they wanted power and to have a voice, however, once again they believe they have been stripped of their independ-
ence. AFL SE’s plan seems to be to divide and conquer. They haven’t brought together all 31 clubs, which seems to be the obvious thing to do, they have met only with clubs individually or as a division and in a very recent case, met with SENFL Clubs without the SENFL Board being invited or present. AFL SE seems committed to making clubs accept a proposal it does not support. Here’s a thought. Rather than AFL SE trying to bring together three competitions that clearly don’t support it, how about they look at their own structure? The AFL SE Region is around 60% larger than any other AFL commission in Victoria. Why wouldn’t they look at splitting the region geographically and create an AFL Peninsula Region, bringing in promotion-relegation and looking at options to include other
clubs ‘within’ the region to join. SENFL clubs, or the top ranked clubs, join the Southern Football League, which is having some issues of its own, form the basis of Division One and create AFL Southern region. It’s understood that this very proposal was recommended to the AFL SE commission on a number of occasions in the past, only to be shot down. The reality is that there is no support for division football or the recommendations released in the report. It is not the only option to maintain competitiveness across the divisions. If AFL SE listened, they would have heard them. Clubs are exercising their options to look outside AFL SE and it’s this activity that has consumed Peninsula, Nepean and SENFL football. It’s time AFL SE was transparent, listened, communicated and worked with clubs, not alienated them.