Hard to gauge Rovers take on Hawks in round one

by Rob Popplestone
Round one of the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League season has finally arrived.
Our Mid Gippsland insider Rob Popplestone will review and preview each round of the 2023 season, with scores and game write-ups in the Gazette and previews published each Thursday night online.
Morwell East v Hill End
With a game under their belt and the chance of back-to-back wins on their home ground, Morwell East will be keen to improve on last week's win over Foster in this game against the respected Hill End.
Morwell East coach Paul Henry said it was great to get the win on Saturday after a long and hard pre-season.
"Now we have to back it up against Hill End, which will take the same amount of work and effort as we produced against Foster," Henry said.
Mike Santo, the experienced and cunning Rovers coach, will be doing the best he can with the artillery he has.
"Things have been ticking along out at the Hill," Santo reported. "Fitness has been a key for us in the pre-season thus far, although usually being the more talented team last year we lost games we shouldn't have due to lack of effort, so that's the main thing we are trying to address."
The work done in the off-season can always make a difference, especially as we get deep into games and deep into the season.
This is especially true for the Hillsmen who have to contend with talent lost.
"We lost some of our best talent to the Gippsland League which we wasn't ideal, but we support them as they will be playing a higher level of footy," Santo said.
Luke Mulqueen, Tyler Pratt and Ben Kerrigan have all exited for Moe and some fringe senior players have departed for teams in the Warragul area.
It's hard to gauge just where Hill End might sit in 2023, but a Hawks side with a game already under their belt will be a good indicator.
Boolarra v Thorpdale
Boolarra made many in the league sit up and take notice last year.
The Demons' savvy recruiting coupled with experienced coach Tony Giardina's guidance had a finals position secured for the first time in a long time, only to fall a little short when it mattered most.
Entering 2023, the home side's goals are much the same - to put themselves in finals contention.
"Pre-season hasn't been the best, but then it hasn't been the worst either," reported Giardina. "We have had a really good core of players who are doing all the hard work and putting in the effort, and improvement has started to show."
"After last year's finals berth and the fact we have come out of players lost and gained pretty much even, the goal is again to be part of the finals," he said.
Thorpdale might not have finals on their mind, but improvement is absolutely paramount for the dual coaching team of Ray Pickering and Jason Winderlich.
"We have focused on getting previous Thorpdale players back to the club but have also added Travis Patten from Glengarry," Winderlich, an ex-Essendon player said. "We have also been focusing on getting some extra run into the legs. We were able to have good quarters throughout 2022, but couldn't maintain that for full games."
Winderlich said they view this season as another development year, with a focus to be more competitive for full games.
"We feel as though four to five wins for the seniors would be a good result as we look to build the playing list up over the next three to four years," he said.
The Blues should be respected for their resilience. But I'm sure they would be equally satisfied with an early win reward.
Yinnar v Newborough
With the season opener under the league's belt, there's no better way to kick off the year than with the grand final rematch.
With a competition so even, Bulldogs coach Craig Skinner said every game would be a challenge as all clubs looked to have improved their senior squads from last year.
"I feel like we have recruited to fill all our needs and look forward to seeing some new faces with the Bulldog jumper on," Skinner said.
"Our first game is against Yinnar at Yinnar, so it's a tough start," he said. "But to be the best, we have to beat the best. We'll know early whether it's been a good pre-season or not".
Reigning premiership coach Daniel Taylor is more than aware of how tough it is to back up after success.
"Coming off the premiership, we expect to be competitive every single week like we were last year," Taylor said. "We aim to be playing finals as most premiership teams would."
"At this stage, we've lost a couple to retirement, we've got seven young blokes up from last year's thirds, and there's three or or four thirds kids this year that will be really pushing for selection come round one," he said. "It's a very exciting time for the club."
That excitement will become a reality this week, with both coaches keen to send a message to the league, whilst also reinforcing to their players that all the hard work done has the team and club on the right pathway for success.
It's a long, tough, demanding year, but every result counts from this week.
Tarwin v MDU
Tarwin were very match the benchmark for most of last season before some wobbly wheels saw them bundled out of the finals quicker than they would have liked.
Sharks coach Troy Hemming has indicated some subtle changes to his team preparation for the season ahead.
"We have changed a few things up game plan wise, which is going to be exciting for the lads and also our supporters watching," Hemming said.
Hemming is also aware that improvement is absolutely key if they are to be a contender
"It looks like every club in our league is picking up more players, so that makes it exciting that every week should be a good spectacle," he said. "I can't wait for round one against MDU at home who are confident they have recruited to go all the way."
Demons coach Nathan Alle might not be so vocal about his team's potential to go all the way, but he remains confident they will be a tougher team to beat.
"The senior team hasn't played finals for some years, so with some new recruits we hope that our senior and reserve teams can do that in season 2023," Alle said.
Certainly the quality of recruits picked up by MDU appears to be most impressive. But just how much so, will be tested on the home ground of Tarwin this weekend. At the end of the say, one coach or maybe even both will have a clearer understanding of just what they will be working with and against.
Toora v Mirboo North
There has been plenty of talk around Toora, and even beyond, that the Magpies are keen to chase the success achieved at reserves level last season at the senior level in 2023.
Toora coach Jack Weston has recruited some exciting talent, welcoming Chris Gardiner, Josh Toner, Majok and Chotnyang Puok, Brendan Weston and Jean Bezzene.
"All players are hoped to support our senior side push up the ladder," Weston said.
Assisting this talent will be a seemingly abundance of reserves who are talented, capable and needed to step to the next grade this year.
That off-season and off-field work will be fully tested against an opponent ready to bounce back from last season's disappointment.
Mirboo North coach Peter Mongta said new coaches across all football grades and new ideas would provide a shift for the playing group.
"The club have a good mix of players which range from 18 to 22-year-olds and some quality mature age players that will play key position," Mongta said. "The club's expectations will be to play finals in 2023 after missing out for the first time since 2003. The list has shown its capability after a great back end season under Josh Taylor, which is always a positive."
The benefit of a first round win can be hard to gauge. However, in a match like this that can seemingly fall either way, having the premiership points alongside your name on the league ladder will be enough to make all the pre-season demands worthwhile.
Stony Creek v Fish Creek
Two sides that found themselves outside the 2022 finals race have unashamedly set their sights on a return to the real stuff this season.
Both sides have new coaches and a reinvigorated enthusiasm that is sure to gain momentum with a first round victory.
For Chris Berboon at Stony Creek, the initial priority has been to strengthen the foundation or fabric of the club off-field.
"Pre-season at Stony Creek has seen players, families and supporters from the netball and football work together to complete not only the normal training sessions but various social events to build comradery," Berboon said. "The coaches from the football and netball collaborated to run a successful boot camp in Sandy Point, everyone involved worked hard and had a great weekend."
"The club hopes to build on last year's performances with all teams striving to make finals," he added. "We have seen previously that anything can happen from there."
"The other focus is to build a great club culture and make Stony Creek a club that families, players, and supporters want to be involved in. Success will grow from there."
Fish Creek, with Jarrod Walker at the helm, has been positive with some talented recruits and a satisfactory pre-season
"New recruits are Harry Smith from Mt Eliza, Jarrod Livingston from St Mary's in Darwin," Walker said. "Pre-season so far has been encouraging, solid numbers on the track with everyone pretty hungry to improve on last year."
Aiming to get back into finals, Walker added "hopefully (we'll) be able to keep a fit and healthy list throughout the year to give us the best chance of success".
That's probably the key for all clubs in an even competition. As much as a solid pre-season and careful recruiting is key, a little luck to keep a healthy list can make a difference between success and failure.
Bye: Foster