DISTINGUISHING the teams most likely to challenge for the newly developed state league crown is by no means an easy feat in pre-season.
But the surprise packet for season 2016 may well be the Eastern Devils; playing out of Mulgrave Reserve, the Devils boast a strong, fit playing list that started drawing attention last season, as well as a head coach well equipped to further develop the side.
Competing in the Premier Division last season, the Devils fell just short of a finals berth, but showed signs of major improvement over the course of the campaign. Now, the Devils are primed to launch themselves into finals discussion, and senior coach Brendan Major believes establishing their own brand of football is the key to getting there.
“We just try and work on the same things we did last year, we want to play our style of football against all the oppositions,” Major said.
“We don’t look at the scoreboard too much, we’ve come up with a game style that we think suits who we have, and we want those players to play their natural role within the team.”
Major also held a role with the AFL Victoria Women’s Academy (who the Devils had several players training with) over the pre-season, working with the strength and conditioning section, which he believes has helped his overall coaching abilities.
“I’m really lucky that I got to go and watch really great coaches and learn on field stuff,” Major said.
“You want to make your players think. You can put a cone out then they go through the motions, but if you can make a player think and work together that can be really valuable.”
The Devils aren’t without their fair share of superstar talent either. Meg Hutchins is regarded as one of the games very best, a five time all Australian with disposal efficiency as good as any in the game. The off-season recruitment of Pepa Randall will add to the Devils forward line, and is sure to add some spice to the Round 1 clash against Randall's former club St Kilda.
Aided and abetted by midfield guns Hannah Scott and Jamie Lambert, the Devils have the firepower needed to take that next step, according to assistant coach John McNamara.
“Last year they improved quite significantly from the beginning of the year to the end, I’m sure after just missing out on an opportunity to play in finals, they will think they are more than capable of reaching that goal this season,” McNamara said.
“I think we’ve got some very good midfielders - if they can continue to improve, we’ve also got a couple of really good forwards who could be quite dominant in the competition.”
Eastern Devils will host Premier Division finalist St Kilda in Round 1 at home.
By Michael Di Petta
WEBSITE: www.easterndevils.com
FACEBOOK: /Eastern Devils
TWITTER: @DevilsFootball