By Davis Harrigan
While the Magpies felt the heartbreak at the last hurdle in 2024 against Surrey Park, Donvale get another go in Division 3 this season, with a fresh face at the helm of the senior men’s side in Tony Weeks.
Weeks is already familiar with the side, having served under 2023 premiership coach, Kevin Collins. It’s a relationship that extends some way back, and with three successive grand final appearances, there’s a raft of experience and movement ready to bolster the new campaign.
“We want to try and build on what Collo has done; I played under Collo back in the 80s and 90s, so we have a pretty good relationship,” Weeks said.
“The main thing is a fresh voice and a different set of eyes. I wouldn’t say there’s anything (new) in particular, but working under him last year, I got a good understanding of what the group was capable of. It would be foolish to try and change it too much.”
While the essentials are in place, Donvale has been working hard to fill some of the gaps, including several new players, with several from the colts set to step up and have a crack at senior footy, injecting a welcome boost into the side.
“We’ve brought in three from Doncaster and three or four of the U/19s will probably step up into senior footy. We’ve got a couple of players coming back from injury that played half a season or nothing at all last year, so they feel like new recruits,” Weeks said.
“We topped up where we think we needed to top up, but the main nucleus of the side was already there.”
Division 3 will see no mid-season bye, something seen as very much a staple of part season. It still doesn’t change much overall for Donvale - Weeks taking a scenario or situation-based approach when required, and breaking the season into manageable segments.
“This year, especially with the bye weekend taken out of it, we’ll have to adjust what we’re doing, but I don’t think we have to change too much. It’s depending on the individual, a week by week and person by person proposition,” Weeks remarked.
“We go in monthly blocks, and have an idea of what we want to try and achieve for that month. When the games start, if there’s something that crops up in a game we need to work on, we tweak it as needed.”
A few additional tweaks should also shore up any defensive issues, but Weeks highlighted that’s not necessarily down to poor defence, but more a mental aspect that can be enhanced.
“I think we’ve been the best growing side in the last few years. We’ve probably leaked a little bit in defence and a few goals last year, but that’s not because of our defence, that’s a team mentality thing, and it’s one area we hopefully can improve on.”
While not quite decided at the time of writing, the indication is strong that Donvale stalwart James Rausa will play a large part in the leadership this year, and will likely be supported by a key group of players.
“Rausa will probably have a big say on the leadership group, he’s a good leader, and he’s got the respect of the competition. He will probably be our captain again, and our leadership group will probably have a few slight tweaks.”
Donvale’s first game is against Division 3 newcomers The Basin, and like all the rest of the sides, the Magpies know every team will be taking continuous steps towards new season success,
“We’re expecting every club that we come up against to improve. No club really sits on their laurels, they all know where they really need to improve,” Weeks said.
“Knox beat us at their ground last year, conditions weren’t ideal, but they got us there. There’s (also) the Basin and Scoresby, who we don’t know much about. We’re going to be worried about every team, and not singling one side out over another.
“We don’t have any expectations; we know if we look too far ahead, we’re probably going to stumble over the things right in front of us. Playing the last three grand finals, we’d like to be competitive every week, and hopefully get a chance to have another crack at it.”
Much like the men’s side, Adam Michaelangeli is also in a “familiar, but slightly different” position, taking the reins of the women’s side.
Finishing top of the Division 1 ladder in 2024, but being pipped out of a Grand Final position, there’s a definite air of enthusiasm and excitement ahead of 2025.
“I’ve been around the group for a few years now, and have been the assistant coach, and now stepping up to the head coach. I like to think I’m different to the past coaches we’ve had,” he said.
“I think they’ll see a different side of me this year. In the past, I was probably a little bit jovial, and the easygoing one…but this part of the pre-season, (they’ve) definitely seen a different side of me, a bit more serious.”
There’s been a strong uptake for the new season, with numbers set to increase as round 1 gets closer, along with a host of new additions to the coaching staff and playing list.
“We’ve probably kept 90% of your list from last year, and we’ve added a few spots where we’ve needed. We also have a couple of girls coming back from injury, and a couple from other clubs,” Michaelangeli said.
“We also have a whole new coaching staff and added three or four new players, so it’s given the group the freshen up it’s needed. We’ve added Jess Crundall, who’s now come on as an assistant coach, and Karl Toce, who’s a past premiership captain. The girls have really responded well to their coaching.”
Several names that have been out of the side for a while look ready to make an immediate impact, and there’ll also be plenty of output from a couple of others that topped the 2024 Best & Fairest leaderboard.
“I can say our usual names like Crundall and Amelia Van Oosterwick, but you know what you’re going to get with those girls. We have Shae Bethune and Shannon Fraser both coming back from ACLs, both will provide a lot of outside run for us. I would love to see how they go, they’ve both missed a year or two of footy, and I definitely think they’re ones to watch for 2025."
“The other one is probably is Siobhon Alderton. She’s had a really good pre-season, she’s stepped up her voice at training and the way she trains, and I think there could be real development this year out on the wing.”
After the sting of the finals loss, there’s been a huge focus on improving fitness and working on the basics - even using unconventional tools to bring those skills to a new level.
“In terms of skills, we identified the two things that let us down in finals was our skills under pressure and our fitness. Coming into this pre-season, the girls have done a massive amount of fitness work,” Michaelangeli said.
“Some nights we just have tennis balls, just to work on their kicking and hand balling. At every level, even AFL level, it’s never 100% skills, so there’s always room for improvement. To the girls credit, they’ve been working hard on it.”
One of the main strategies being imparted this year has taken a leaf out of an AFL coaches premiership playbook - and it’s pretty simple at the end of the day.
“This pre-season, I adapted what Craig McRae did at Collingwood in their premiership year. Every training, doesn’t matter where you improve, as long as you’re improving,” Michaelangeli said.
“That’s that one percent improvement every time you’re training and taking the field. If you come off and feel like you’ve improved, then you’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.”
That extends to the team increasing their voice on the field as well, with Adam keen to have everyone step into a role beyond the leadership group.
“This year, with leadership, I’m asking everyone to be a leader. I know it’s a bit of a cliche, as there’s no reason why the 15th or 23rd person can’t have as much voice as your top five,” Michaelangeli said.
The division again shapes as incredibly strong, with the Magpies straight into it against 2024 Grand Finalists, North Ringwood. With some of the combined margins being very narrow across 2024, expect it to be just as intense again in 2025.
“Last year, the three games we played East Ringwood, they were decided within 15 points. We certainly think that they’re very good. Even North Ringwood, they touched us up a bit in finals, and in the first week of the year. We got revenge on them, but they played off in a grand final, so we’re certainly envious of what they did.”
The culture at Donvale continues to grow, and while the pre-season camp was absent this year, there’s been an emphasis on connecting all the sides even more than before, creating a very strong one-club mentality.
“We try to warm up with the boys as much as possible, even on Saturdays. I think Donvale is fantastic, the way they’ve involved the women in everything, including Thursday night meals, training, (and) functions,” Michaelangeli said.
“There’s a real push this year to be even closer again.”