Division 2 Men’s: Season Review

Joe Pignataro

Glen Eira (11-0)

Jonny Edgar’s Glen Eira were on their way to something special in season 2021.

History was on their side when they’ve started a season 11-0. This was the fourth occasion they’ve done so in the past decade (2011 – D2, 2016 & 2018 – D3). In each of those years, they’ve gone on to make the Grand Final and 2021 was heading in much the same direction.

The Gryphons displayed extreme consistency each week with 15 of the 32 players used running out in 10 games or more and 25 of those players hitting the scoreboard at least once. Callum Drenth led the way up forward with 32 goals. They were ranked #2 for attack (106.4ppg) and #1 for defence (40.5ppg).

While we won’t know how September would’ve played out for the Gryphons, we look forward to watching the havoc they cause in Division 1 in 2022 after they exercised their right to promotion in the new year.

Such was their dominance this year, it left one opposition coach saying “they were as good a drilled team as you will see at this level and I am incredibly respectful over their decision to step up next season”.

Fast Fact: Between 2011 – 2015 the Gryphons went 27 wins, 61 losses. From 2016 – 2021 they’ve gone 62 wins, 19 losses. It’s a fantastic footy program out there.

MHSOB (10-1)

The Unicorns were threatening right throughout season 2021 with an approach that encompassed all-out attack. The #1 ranked side for scoring averaged 118.7ppg, kicking more than 100 on 5 occasions and over 200 once. From a defensive point of view, they were equally as tight, only giving up 46.9 points as the 2^nd ranked side behind Glen Eira.

The one game they dropped came in the first round against the ladder leaders and they were on their way to facing them in Round 16 before the season ended abruptly. Bernard Pretty had his charges set for a big finals campaign and would have been well-placed to reach the Grand Final and elevate themselves to Division 1 in 2022.

The major highlight for the club came in the form of power forward, Ashan Wijayakumara, who topped the sections goalkicking with 42 for the season at a tick under four per game.

When asked what the award means to him, Ashan said “I’m extremely honoured to be awarded the leading goal kicker – especially with the amount of talented forwards in the competition”.

“Being recognised within the league means a great deal, as getting there wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the players, coaching staff and all the volunteers at the club.

“When I started playing footy at MHSOB, I had the intention of just playing thirds, not going to training and filling in every couple of weeks. But the players and the culture really inspired and drove me to really commit, be part of the family, and almost have a chance at a senior’s flag.”

West Brunswick (8-3)

Having won just three games in 2019 (Division 1) consecutive victories were a long time coming for the boys from Ransford Oval. And despite heartache in the opening round with a two-point loss to Ivanhoe AFC, the West Brunswick Magpies twice this season put together really good blocks of footy.

Between Rounds 2 – 12, they won every game except one and kept opposition scores to below 50. Defence seemed to be the mantra for the Pies as they conceded an average of 54ppg. While on the attacking side (ranked #3) they would average 28 scoring shots per game, four times kicking over 100 points.

Under the guidance of VAFA legend Nick Mitchell, the club was forced into making changes most weeks – much like MHSOB – using 45 players throughout the 11 matches.

When asked about the club in recent days Mitchell said “the way they have carried themselves over the last two years has given me a newfound respect for people and their football club”.

Stephen Wall was the clubs shining light up forward kicking 28 goals for the season.  Another highlight according to the coach was the “two games against Ivanhoe, they were terrific. Coached by someone I really respect in Ash Close, we were really evenly matched, we split our games and they were both incredibly hard fought”.

Fast Fact: 2021 is the first time since the 2017 Grand Final year that West Brunswick has recorded eight wins or more in a home and away season.

Old Paradians (8-3)

The For the Love of the Game podcast team are yet to be forgiven from the men at Garvey Oval after derailing their 2018 premiership campaign by getting on the bandwagon far too early. Needless to say, they got off on the right foot again this season winning six of the first seven games of the season. It included four of the five games they played at home where the beautiful white picket fence surrounds the boundary!

Using 41 players this year, the Raiders were coming into a mini-finals series before the finals having to play against the fellow top four sides in the run to September.

The Paradians farewelled coach Phil Plunkett at the conclusion of this year and in recent days have announced Justin Whitcher as the new man at the helm. Justin’s resume has experience left, right and centre, having spent time at reserves level with both Collingwood and Carlton, before spending three years with South Fremantle. In a coaching capacity, he has held development roles at Calder Cannons and Coburg Football Clubs in the VFL and brings with him a wealth of football knowledge.

Ivanhoe AFC (6-5)

Ivanhoe AFC was rocking and rollicking late in the season as they tried to produce a barnstorming finish and feature in finals action. Led boldly week in, week out by Ash Close, the Magpies finished fifth – two games behind Parade.

Playing this season with 44 players, only two managed to play the full 11 games. It was the coach who plonked himself at full-forward finishing the season with 38 goals and kicking a bag of 10. The Magpies had a couple of ding-dong battles against Manningham Cobras – which could be argued were the games of the season – losing by seven points and then winning by one point in the return bout.

The shining light of the season came in the form of Wayne Schulz who joined the club this season at the ripe young age of 39 as an assistant to Ash Close. Speaking on the VAFA Awards Night after claiming the Fullerton Medal, Wayne said it was “a little bit unexpected”.

“It’s more about the future of the kids and developing them. You don’t play at this age for that, you still give it a crack.”

One thing we can take from Wayne (the journeyman through the VFL, WAFL, NFL) is that every club can hold their head high with the way they hold themselves every Saturday.

“I’m really impressed with the VAFA, the standard for D2 I’ve been really impressed. I think that’s a credit to everyone involved through the clubs and administration.”

Manningham Cobras AFC (4-7)

As mentioned above, the shootout between the Cobras and the Magpies in Round 5 that saw them claim a seven-point victory will no doubt be the moment of the year for the Cobras.

It was the Cobras first year in Division 2 after going down to Aquinas in the 2019 D3 Grand Final, unfortunately, due to COVID lockdowns and season cancellations we’ll have to wait until 2022 to see the Grand Final rematch between these 2 sides. But let it be known, they were evenly placed right throughout their first season coming up a division.

Anthony Raso and Kane Maghamez (a previous competition leading goalkicker) led the way in front of the sticks kicking 24 apiece and will be looking to build on that when the footy rolls around again in 2022.

Aquinas (4-7)

The 2019 Division 3 reigning premiers found their way to the second highest score of the season back in Round 2, kicking 29.17 against Bulleen, a week after kicking 6.17 to start their season.

They fought mightily each week and certainly drew the rough end of the stick in the way the games that were played panned out. They played the top five sides in their 11 games, including a return match to the ladder leaders Glen Eira.

47 players went through the senior side this year for the boys from Ringwood, six of those men played every game. And we love highlighting the big bags of goals kicked this year – Matt Aver brought his own sherrin earlier this season with a double digit 10 on his way to 28 for the season.

For fans of Aquinas, they might still well be recounting the fortnight they had through rounds 10 and 11 where they were forced to hold their breath and hang on for dear life as they overcame Parade at Garvey Oval by two points and then prevented Bulleen from snatching the points off them at home seven days later, also by two points.

Yarra Old Grammarians (2-9)

The eighth-placed Yarra Old Grammarians started the season off on the right foot with victory over Aquinas to open their account, before running into the top five sides across the following 5 rounds.

They posted their second win of the season with a scintillating performance against Bulleen and produced their highest score (23.8.146) of the season. 35 players represented Yarra Old in the 1’s this year, seven of those 35 would player every game while Rory Harbeck was the sharpshooter in front of goal.

The club has already announced a number of re-signings and recommitments for 2022, including Michael Scott will return for season 2022! Scotty is a forward who oozes X-factor, capable of kicking big bags and can play as an intercepting defender when required. In addition to his playing ability, Scotty brings great leadership off-field.

As well as Rory Chipman, Cal Johnson, and James Fleming, the top three players placed in the clubs best and fairest in 2021!

Bulleen Templestowe (1-10)

Bulleen Templestowe have had a year they’d rather forget, but it didn’t stop them from being as competitive as possible every time they took to the field. Going into the final round of games winless, the Ants, who experienced a forfeit and two heartbreaking losses by two and three points, it all came together in a come-from-behind 23-point win over Yarra Old Grammarians.

Despite the horrendous amount of injuries they endured, they pushed on and incredibly, it was the Bullants’ first win in almost two years, with the seniors last claiming the four points in Round 16, 2019.

President Russell Wallis described the result to the Local Footy Leader as a special moment for his club and everyone who has stuck by them.

“It’s a real fill-up for everybody that’s been involved from the players right through to the volunteers,” Wallis said.

“It was a pretty exciting time for us after the match. They (the players) were just so happy, in the rooms, it was almost like euphoria and almost like a grand final victory to us, just getting that win.”

Bulleen will remain in Division 2 in 2022 and get to work with some off-season recruiting that will hopefully see them climb the ladder and reach greater heights next season.

Power House AFC (1-10)

Despite the difficulty of the season from the boys at Power House’s perspective, there was definitely some green shoots coming through as the season progressed and the players got back into the rhythm of playing together again.

A come-from-behind three-point win over Bulleen was the #1 highlight from the win-loss perspective, but coach Anthony McMahon took more away from the year than the ladder position suggests.

When asked his thoughts on season 2021, he said “developing a new game plan, and whilst it took a little while to be consistently competitive with it, in the 2^nd half of the season we were very competitive for longer periods of time with the top teams of D2”.

40 players came through the senior side this year, Luke Stubbs took away the club’s leading goalkicker award for the season, while new recruit Brendan Wright was a standout player throughout the season.

The unveiling of the VAFA’s best clash strip should also garner a mention, and as we build closer towards the pre-season in preparation for 2022, ominous warnings from the camp out at Ross Gregory Oval – “We feel we have placed some excellent building blocks to ensure we improve on the win/loss columns next year”.

Look out.