ROXBURGH Park is entering Division 1 with a playing list that is ready to embrace the challenge of playing a higher standard of football.
Three of the previous four Division 2 premiers have been relegated out of Division 1 within two years.
Second-year coach Michael Farrelly has spent much of his summer looking at how his side needs to adapt to the new standard Division 1 to ensure it not only gets some wins, but ultimately consolidates its place in the EDFL’s second tier competition.
“The biggest changes for me are the cleanliness, the skills, the first touch and hitting targets that are probably harder to hit than they are in Division 2,” Farrelly told essendondfl.com.au.
“Once you can be a bit cleaner with the footy and get that first touch right, then the game really opens up and it progresses down the field really quickly.
“In Division 2 there’s a lot of fumbling, a lot of second-guessing and predictability, where I’m expecting a lot more unpredictability and if we try and bring the same methodology than we did to Division 2, then we’ll get caught out.
“At times when you turn the ball over in Division 2, you have a chance to win it back again but in Division 1, you’ll get crucified a lot quicker.
“The boys will have to adapt and get used to hitting some of the targets they sometimes missed last year, so they’re working on their skills and just making sure that they’re really taking the game on.”
After claiming last year’s Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 flag, the Magpies have done well to retain many of the key players that beat East Sunbury at Windy Hill back in September.
Most of the club’s recruiting has bolstered its midfield and only three of the premiership 22 from last year are among the confirmed departures.
“All the guys that left haven’t gone to a higher division or an equal division, they’ve all gone down the easier route,” Farrelly said.
“But the guys that have hung around really have embraced the challenge. They haven’t shied away from it.
“The retention has been really good.
“The hard part has been the recruiting. It’s always harder to recruit when you’re probably the lowest-paying club in the division but also the team that’s expected to win the least amount of games.
“But hopefully we can win a few opinions over and we can win a few people over by stealing a few wins.”
Farrelly admits his young side is in for a tough introduction to Division 1 but remains hopeful of claiming enough wins to survive instant relegation.
“There’s no doubt we’ll have a year where it’ll be tough at times, but we still expect to steal three to six games, that’s our target,” he said.
“Where that places us on the ladder, I don’t know… but that should be our aim.”
RECRUITING
In: Wally Abbouchi (forward, Northern Saints), Jay Berbera (midfielder, Hurstbridge), Nathan McIntosh (defender, Bundoora), Tom Baker (midfielder, Craigieburn), Zac Reichelt (midfielder, Craigieburn) & Matt Tucker (midfielder)
Out: Tumay Hamza (retired), Carlos Ardon (retired), Nathan Mander (Mornington), Jake Busuttil-Poskitt* (Coburg Districts), Matthew Dalpiaz (Hadfield) & Ryan Kannegiesser (Mernda),
*Transfer pending
2019 DRAW
