By ADEM SARICAOGLU
TWELVE months ago Hillside was a footy club hell-bent on getting back into Division One of the Essendon District Football League.
Now the Sharks are all about making sure they stay there, after blitzing Division Two on their way to an inaugural flag in 2013.
Hillside was almost flawless under Steve Kolyniuk this year, dropping just one game on its way to Windy Hill – where the Sharks beat Moonee Valley in the Division Two grand final.
However the club’s off-season since that historic day has so far not been so smooth.
The Sharks faced some minor financial woes that Kolyniuk says have now been dealt with by new club president Rob Coletta and his board.
However some of those woes have also had an impact on the field, with big name 2013 recruits Aisakie O’hAilpin (Albury) and Ryan Hargrave (Deer Park) both opting to move on.
“We had a few off-field issues which needed to be addressed and they have been – so that put us behind the eight ball a little bit,” Kolyniuk said.
“After having a successful season clubs then go and start speaking to players and offering them more money, and the difficulty at the moment is just maintaining the core of players we had last year.”
O’hAilpin was clearly Hillside’s most damaging player in 2013.
His presence both in the ruck and around the ground proved vital in all of Hillside’s big games, prompting Kolyniuk to admit the big Irishman will be hard to replace.
“It was a little bit of a surprise with Aisakie, but look he wants to play with his brother (Setanta),” Kolyniuk said.
“He’ll obviously be a loss. He basically rucked all year unchanged and he’s just a competitor, so I doubt if anyone in local footy would be able to replace someone of his ilk.”
Filling the void left behind by Hargrave proved to be no issue, with the Sharks securing young key defender Matthew Wallace from Keilor.
For now though it seems, on paper at least, that Hillside will return to Division One with a weaker list than that of 2013.
While Kolyniuk still plans on injecting some more quality into his line-up, he is willing to admit he might not have as much firepower at his disposal this time around.
“If I was judging it on where we are right now, then I’d say last year’s (list) was stronger,” he said.
“But in saying that, I think our side last year would’ve pushed for finals no problem in Division One.”
