By ADEM SARICAOGLU
ALL eyes will be on the three Brimbank clubs in the Essendon District Football League’s Division Two competition this season.
Most league pundits believe Hillside will go into the year as favourite ahead of Moonee Valley, however Keilor Park and East Keilor shouldn’t be too far behind.
The Sharks were demoted midway through last season and will be one of the eight clubs embarking on their first full season of Division Two EDFL football.
Not happy with losing its place in the second tier Division One competition, Hillside sacked coach Alan Ezard and brought in former Western Bulldog Steve Kolyniuk as his replacement.
After a heavy recruiting campaign landed Ryan Hargrave and Aisake O’hAilpin at Hillside, Kolyniuk hasn’t been afraid to declare the 2013 flag is his club’s sole objective, but insists that desire runs deeper than simply adding a trophy to the cabinet.
“If we stay in this division too long some of the parents with good juniors coming through may think that Hillside might not be the best place to develop their footy,” Kolyniuk said.
“Obviously our goal is to try to get back up into Division One as soon as possible. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
However Kolyniuk knows Hillside is up for a fight, and believes reigning premier East Keilor, who ironically parted ways with Kolyniuk last June, could be the sleeper.
They too have a new coach in David Battistella, who is new to the league and would rather let the first few rounds of the season play out before making any judgements on where the new-look Cougars rank.
“I don’t like setting goals too far away, for me our goal at the end of the day is to play finals, and to do that you normally need to start well,” Battistella said.
“I’m pretty confident we’ve got the calibre and personnel to be fighting for finals, but once you get to that stage it’s a whole new ball game.”
Confidence is also brimming down the road out of Keilor Park coach Rob McCluskey.
Though he refuses to make ‘all or nothing’ declarations on winning the premiership, McCluskey is confident his new-look side is primed for a big year.
“I’d say we’ll be in the top three or four, put it that way,” McCluskey said.
“I know that we’ll have a good young side on paper, all our recruits are young and a couple of blokes have come back to the club. We will have a strong side with good depth this year.”
Though many still fear the third tier Division Two won’t reduce blow-outs, league officials are confident it will be a success. Round one kicks off on Saturday.
