The Inaugural Senior Women’s side had immediate success, winning a premiership while the senior men thrived in their new division, making a Preliminary Final.
By Ryan Long.
East Burwood
Ladder Position: 3rd (13-5, 138.80%)
Best and Fairest: Marcus Young
Leading Goalkicker: Marcus Young (43)
Summary:
The Rams exceeded all expectations in their first season in Division Two after being promoted in 2021. The club finished in third position on the ladder, three and a half wins above the fourth-placed Bears.
They couldn’t have gotten off to any better start to the year, winning their first five games of the season. It set up a top-of-the-table clash in Round Six against South Belgrave where they struggled to contain the opposition’s tall timber with the Saints kicking 23 goals for the game. Despite a couple of slip-ups, the Rams continued to put up an impressive year of results, defeating everyone in the division at least once except for South Belgrave.
A third-place finish on the ladder meant they had earned themselves the double chance, facing off against Ringwood in the Qualifying Final. With a howling wind out at Walker Park, East Burwood struggled in front of goal, kicking 5.15 as Ringwood blew the game open late with an eight-goal last quarter.
They entered the Semi Final a week later against Boronia without star inside midfielder Matt Mariani due to a hamstring injury. In a game of momentum swings, the Rams held on by one point with the Hawks having a shot after the siren outside of the arc, unable to tie the game. Jason Kennedy, Kodey Logan and Ed Rixtonall all starred for the Rams in a thrilling victory for the club.
Once again, they met Ringwood, this time a Preliminary Final, missing both Mariani and Martini, two keys to their midfield. Their season came to an end with a 51-point loss to the Redbacks.
Key Players:
The Rams had four players make the Division Two Team of the Year, Max Wills, Matthew Martini, Marcus Young and Matthew Mariani.
The likes of Max Wills and Kodey Logan were key for East Burwood down back while Marcus Young didn’t miss a game all season and was the Rams’ most consistent forward. Young kicked 43 goals in the Home and Away season, finishing in the best a total of 18 times, winning the club best and fairest.
Mariani and Martini both had brilliant seasons in the midfield. The club’s premiership chances took a hit when both players got injured during the Finals series.
Best Win: Round 9 – East Burwood 11.12 78 def. Ringwood 11.8 74 @Jubilee Park
One of the club’s most impressive wins of the season came in Round Nine away from home at Jubilee Park. The four-point victory over the Redbacks sent a message to the rest of the division that they were the real deal this year. The Rams dominated the game early despite not capitalising on their dominance. They stretched out the margin to 23 points at three-quarter time before having to defend that lead in the final quarter against the Wind. The Redbacks came home hard but the Rams’ back six did extremely well under pressure to hold them off and secure a vital win.
Max Wills was brilliant on the last line of defence while Jamie Kempson starred with three goals. Without Matt Mariani for the afternoon, the likes of Martini and Spiteri stood up with some pivotal clearance work, giving their forward line plenty of opportunities.
Off-Season Focus:
The club have a new senior coach for the upcoming season with former Surrey Park Coach David Jensen appointed for 2023.
The division is wide open for a new premier with the promotion of South Belgrave. Clubs around the mark such as Templestowe and Boronia have begun to recruit heavily, following South Belgrave’s footsteps from the year prior so the Rams will have plenty of competition. The current East Burwood list is quite strong already and were badly affected come finals time with key injuries to star players, they’ll want a chance to get back there in 2023 with a full healthy squad for a better chance at contending.
East Burwood Women’s
Ladder Position: 2nd (11-1, 401.84%)
Best and Fairest: Holly Booth
Leading Goalkicker: Cecilia Baldassarre (35)
Summary:
An incredible first year for the Senior Women’s side who won the Division Three Deakin University premiership. The experienced Ali Rock became the inaugural coach for the Rams working with an even mix of girls with experience and others who were taking up football for the first time.
The club created a great environment, and the results began to show on the field, winning their first eight matches which included a 131-point win over Mooroolbark and a 99-point win over Nunawading.
Their first loss came at the hands of Croydon North MLOC in a tight Round Nine clash. The KangaRams’ five-goal third term set up their five-point win and became the Rams’ biggest challenger for the premiership.
After both sides won the remaining games of their season, they met again in the first week of the finals at Quambee Reserve. The Rams held the usually high-scoring KangaRams goalless in the first half. In poor conditions, the game opened a little more in the second half, but East Burwood remained in control the entire time, winning by 22 points and qualifying for the Grand Final.
Two weeks later, the sides met in the premiership decider at the same venue, in much better conditions. The game played out in a similar way with the Rams’ backline doing a fantastic job all afternoon while Cecilia Baldassarre kicked five in a historic win for the football club.
Key Players:
Holly Booth had the honours of winning the Inaugural Senior Women’s Best and Fairest for East Burwood with a fantastic consistent year.
The club had two of the best goal kickers in the division with Cecilia Baldassarre and Sarah Jones combining for 68 goals. Baldassarre played just seven games for the season and still managed 35 majors, kicking at seven goals or more in three of those matches.
Bronte Rowlands’ work in the midfield across the season earned her a well-deserved position in the EFNL Team of the Year for Divisions One to Four.
Best Win: Grand Final – East Burwood 8.8 56 def. Croydon North MLOC 2.4 16 @Quambee Reserve
An incredible day for the club with the Rams already playing in their first Grand Final in their inaugural season.
The Grand Final played out like the Semi Final two weeks earlier, with East Burwood keeping Croydon North MLOC goalless in the first half before they stretched out the lead in the second half. The Rams’ defence kept their opponents to their lowest score of the year, just 16 points. At the other end of the ground, key forward Cecilia Baldassarre had a massive day out with five goals in the premiership win. Her performance earned her the Blue Ribbon Medal for best on ground.
Off-Season Focus:
The club came into the year with almost half the side new to football. Seeing how far they’ve come in just one season shows the potential for the future. The Rams will be challenged a bit more across the year in what will likely be an alternate division. They’ll look to continue developing their skills and seeing how far they can go once more in season 2023.
Netball Review
East Burwood Black (Section 1)
Ladder Position: 1st (16-0-1, 142.34%)
A phenomenal season for the club, just missing out on the section one premiership after a nail-biting Grand Final loss. The side didn’t lose a single game in the regular season, winning 16 out of 17, having one draw with East Ringwood. They posted some of the highest scores in the competition including a massive score of 80 against the other East Burwood Section One side.
Finishing on top of the ladder, the side faced off against Croydon in a Semi-Final, holding the Blues off in the last quarter to win by four points. Two weeks later, they came up against East Ringwood in the Grand Final. Unfortunately for the Rams, it was their first and only loss for the season, losing by just two points in a thrilling Grand Final.
In the Team of the Year for Section One, Maggie O’Shannassy received a spot as Goalkeeper while Belinda Williams also found a spot on the interchange. The side also had joint best and fairest winners with Sarah Mulqueen and Kelsey Peachman taking out the honours.
Also finishing in second and third for the league in goals scored was Belinda Williams and Emily Salmon with 696 and 446 goals respectively.
East Burwood Rams (Section 1)
Ladder Position: 6th (8-9, 95.01%)
The East Burwood Rams were the club’s second side in the top section, winning eight games for the year. In the most competitive section in the league, they just missed out on a spot in the finals by a game and percentage.
Amelia Findlay had a fantastic year, landing a spot on the Section One Netball Team of the Year at Wing Attack. Her strong season also won her a best and fairest with the club. Rylee Hamilton led the scoring for the side with 312 goals, finishing inside the top ten goal scorers for the section.
East Burwood Grey (Section 3)
Ladder Position: 10th (0-17, 43.14%)
Unfortunately for the club’s Section Three side, East Burwood was unable to come away with a win in season 2022. Jasmine Panagopoulos led the scoring for the side with 83 goals. Panagopoulos also went on to win the best and fairest for East Burwood, finishing just ahead of Kali Hancock.
East Burwood Silver (Section 4)
Ladder Position: 5th (9-8, 104.44%)
East Burwood Silver just missed on a spot in the finals, finishing fifth, a game behind Heathmont. The two sides met in the final round of the regular season with the Jets winning by seven and consolidating their spot in the top four.
Rachael Sheridan had a fantastic season with 268 goals, finishing fourth in the section. Also having a fantastic year was Jaime Oliver, awarded not only the club’s best and fairest but the Section Four league b&f too.
East Burwood White (Section 4)
Ladder Position: 4th (5-8-1, 83.88%)
East Burwood White was one of two Netball sides from the club to make the finals in 2022. They finished fourth with five wins and a draw, meeting Scoresby in the first week of the finals. Trailing at the last change, East Burwood had a big last quarter to run over the top of the Magpies to win by two points and move onto the Preliminary Final.
Despite losing to Mulgrave twice throughout the year, the Rams surprised the section with an upset win over the Lions with a big final-quarter comeback. Meghan Watson starred for the Rams with 18 goals.
Their upset win set up a Grand Final against the minor premiers in The Basin where they were defeated 33 to 20.
Meghan Watson and Grace Sketcher led the scoring for the side with 135 and 109 goals respectively. Winning the side’s best and fairest was Grace Leggett.
East Burwood Juniors
The East Burwood Junior Football Club had a great season with the Under 11s and 14s both made Grand Finals capping off successful home and away seasons. The Under 13’s also performed well in season 2022. After starting off the year in dominant fashion the team was promoted after grading to compete in A grade. They showed they were more than capable with the step up in grades, competing well. The Under 16 side also had a solid season, narrowly missing out a spot in the finals. East Burwood have entered a side in the EFNL Under 7s which will hopefully lead to an Under 8’s in 2023.