NEW Eltham coach Mario Bandera won’t be judging his club’s success this season on whether or not it plays finals.
Much has changed at Eltham Central Reserve since the club played its first finals match in three years last September – losing to Northcote Park by 60 points in the Division 1 elimination final.
Key players Paul Currie, Brad Perry, Jackson Weatherald and Ryan Hocking have all transferred to clubs outside the NFL, while Bandera has replaced Brett Weatherald as senior coach.
Speaking on the eve of the 2014 season, Bandera said playing finals would not be club’s sole judging factor given the list changes it has experienced.
“The realistic thing talking to the list and the committee, and they understand it as well, is that there has been a regeneration so we’re not going to judge our season purely on comparing it to what we achieved last season,” Bandera told NFL.org.au.
“It’s easy to get caught up with playing finals and it was one of the things that attracted me to the club.
“But since getting to the club and sitting in the final stages of the interview process where I learned that some of those players were going to go, we made it clear in those discussions – and the supporters need to understand it as well – that even if we’d had the same list (making finals) is not an automatic guarantee.
“The goal posts have moved for us. Yes, we aim to play finals and we want to play finals, but it’s not the be-all judging factor for us.
“We’ve sort of got our eye on the ball two, three, four years in advance.”
Having coached Epping for the past four seasons, Bandera is well known within NFL circles.
As a player he achieved the ultimate individual honour when he claimed the 2002 Division 1 best and fairest award while playing at North Heidelberg.
A decade later he guided Epping to the 2012 Division 2 premiership. He also took the club to the 2011 Division 2 Grand Final, an effort which earned him the AFCA Northern Region Coach of the Year.
Bandera said he sensed his period at Eltham could follow a similar path to what he experienced at Epping.
“We have lost a few players and it may not be an automatic success story, but I’ve got a feeling it will be very similar to what we did at Epping,” he said.
“It took us two or three years to get going and I think Eltham is in a similar boat.
“One of the advantages with some of the older, wiser heads moving on is that I get a chance to build my own Division 1 side and that’s an exciting thing.
“It’s going to be something fresh with an established Division 1 side.”
Bandera stressed that every player who had left the club was replaceable and said a number of players who had been starved of opportunities in the past were ready to step up as regular senior players.
One inclusion who is poised to make a big difference is former Essendon forward Jay Neagle (pictured below), who signed with the club in February.
Neagle kicked 41 goals in 28 games with the Bombers, and joins the Panthers after playing 19 matches with Korumburra-Bena in the Alberton Football Netball League last year.
Like any former AFL player who joins a suburban football club, Neagle is sure to attract plenty of attention but Bandera said his expectations of the big forward would be no different to any other player on Eltham’s list.
“He’s just got to come in and play his role,” Bandera said.
“What we’re about is that it doesn’t matter who you are or what your name is, you know your role, you know your teammates’ role and you play your role.
“There’ll be a lot of focus on him from other sides, but from our point of view the burden of responsibility doesn’t rest on his shoulders.”
Bandera said Neagle was likely to be used as a forward, although his role may vary depending on the opposition.
Another tall who may spend time with Neagle inside attacking 50 is Sean Bolger, who has joined from Bandera’s former club, Epping.
Bolger – who is also listed with VFL club, the Northern Blues – was a standout for Epping last year. He played 11 games in between commitments with the Blues and was named amongst the best in seven of those games.
“I definitely didn’t try to pursue anyone from Epping because I didn’t want to do the wrong thing by that footy club, but Sean was pretty keen to come across to play some Div 1 footy,” Bandera said.
“He showed what he can do at this level in the last month and a half of last year, where he was basically winning games on his own.”
While Bandera said he expected Bolger to be available only sparingly because of his Northern Blues commitments, he said it was a positive sign for Eltham to have him on its list.
Bolger will be one of “eight or nine” Eltham players to be also listed by a VFL club this season.
Having spent close to a full pre-season with the Eltham playing group, Bandera said he’d developed a greater appreciation for three-time club champion Gavan Connelly, whose work rate had impressed his new coach.
Bandera said he was also expecting big seasons from Division 1 Team of the Year wingman Tom Rogers and Josh Merkel, who missed most of last season with a leg injury.
The Panthers will take on EDFL Division 1 premiership winner, the Northern Saints, in a practice match this weekend. They will then head to Lavington before taking on Doncaster at home.
As it did in 2013, Eltham will kick off the home and away season with an away match at Lower Plenty, before a blockbuster Round 2 clash with Greensborough on Good Friday.
