18 DAYS TO GO | EFL Media will be previewing each club ahead of the 2018 season with the #InFocus2018 series, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
By: Jessie Hare
Twitter: @JessieHaree
The Magpies capped off their 2017 season with the premiership flag in Division 4 and are looking to continue their competitive nature going into the 2018 season.
The Donvale side lead by playing coach Matt Fife is looking forward to the challenge of playing Division 3 football.
“We want to play finals football, if not challenge it,” Fife said.
“I want to continue our style of play, we’ve got a real running power which has advanced more so in the last year so I want to go to the next step with that.”
The Magpies will be coming across some strong and quality teams this season and Fife believes that is going to factor into his team’s improvement.
“Obviously the challenge is consistently playing quality teams each week, we’ve got a young group and I think that’s only going to make them better footballers,” he said.
Looking towards the recruitment side of things, Donvale have picked up Jackson Freeman who is 2014 premiership player for Wantirna South, along with Nathan Mill from Doncaster East and Lachlan McKenzie from Division 1 side, Blackburn.
“It’s sort of been our recruiting mall, bring guys in who would fit that personality mould and we know that they’re good people,” Fife said.
“And those guys, ‘Jacko’ and ‘Nath’ have just fit in like they have been at the club for years.”
Though, they have needed to fill the void of the losses of two premiership players with Zac Haig transferring to Nunawading and Jesse Liebelt off to Division 1 side Doncaster.
But Fife is confident that his club’s recruitment and development process will make up for the loss.
“In terms of footy playing ability, we’ve tried to cover our losses in similar players, we brought in Ben Lyall from Whitefriars who was a Donvale junior,” he said.
“Similar to Jesse in terms of a brilliant runner, probably one of the best runners at the club at the moment and he can find the footy.”
The Magpies leading forwards Nick Murphy and Jack Purcell kicked over 150 goals between them last year.
Murphy capped off a great year, winning the Frank Bibby Blue Ribbon Medal for best on ground in the grand final.
Unfortunately, Purcell tore his ACL in the final last year so he won’t be seen in until late in the year, if at all.
Fife who will undertake the player-coach role this season is looking forward to getting out on the track and has enjoyed his preseason.
“I’ve had a pretty strong preseason so far, it’s been my most injury free preseason for a number of years. So I will definitely be pulling the boots on again,” he said.
“I’ve just been trying to keep fit and be there out amongst the boys and hopefully I’ve got a few more games in me.”
In an exciting time for Donvale, the club will be fielding its first-ever senior women’s team for the 2018 season.
The Magpies announced Clint Martin as their coach who comes from the Knox Football Club after coaching their senior women’s team for the 2016-17 seasons.
He is bringing with him an extensive football background with eight years of coaching females and playing over 300 games himself.
The 2018 senior women’s coach, Clint Martin. PICTURE: Donvale Football Club official website.
“It’s been different because I’ve had to start from scratch,” Martin said.
“Donvale is very supportive of the women’s team and me as a coach. Moving forward, especially this year they want everything in place so the girls can have a good year.”
With the season just around the corner, the team getting in some match experience. Martin has given us an insight of who to look out for this year.
“Jess Crundall and another girl in Tina Liu, they’re a couple of girls there to watch this space with their football careers,” he said.
“Jess has come up from the under-18s and she’s really improved a lot since under 18s and Tina, she’s never played football before but what I hear from her friends, when she sets her mind to something she generally turns her head on and does it.”
With a brand-new side, it can be hard to know what their season is going to look like but Martin is confident with their goals they’ve set as a team and looking to continually grow over the next year.
“We’ve set goals but we’ve set realistic goals and that we understand that we are still forming as a team and it will take some time to develop as a side,” Martin said.
“I sort of said, if we win five games and build upon that then anything after five games is a bonus.”
Coming from another women’s football club, Martin has had different experiences and has a positive take on what the Donvale Football Club is doing for girls and women’s football for the future.
“At Donvale they are really right inside and they are really supportive. I am enjoying that aspect, a one club culture for sure,” Martin said.
Donvale will open its season away against Waverley Blues at Mt. Waverley Reserve on April 7.