Leaving last season in rear-view
eaders at Dimboola are excited for the 2022 season to get underway.
They are eager to wash away the disappointment of a COVID-19 impacted 2021 season and chase senior Wimmera League success.
Club president Justin Ward said there was ‘quite a bit of disappointment’ after the cancellation of finals in 2021, however the energy around the club was ‘through the roof’.
“We are looking forward to 2022. We want to make amends for the shortened season,” he said.
“When we drive into finals this year, we want to drive in on eight cylinders.
“The way things ended last year gave everyone around the club more spur and desire to push themselves further than before.”
The Roos’ senior footballers finished the 2021 season fifth on the ladder, on the cusp of the would have been finals series.
The senior netballers finished a convincing third on the A Grade ladder.
Senior football coach Justin Beugelaar said COVID-19 had thrown a ‘spanner in the works’ last season, but he was impressed by the way the Roos finished off the year.
“I think we were heading in the right direction in the back half of last season,” he said.
“We’ve had big numbers at pre-season training and things are looking good in Dimmy land.”
Beugelaar said his junior players had responded well to the challenges of the 2021 season and they had continued to develop throughout the pre-season period.
“We have so many great junior players coming into the senior squad and they will be a strong reason why we hope to be pushing up through the ranks this season,” he said.
“While we had a focus to bring in some experienced recruits during this period, to have success you need to have a strong junior program.”
Beugelaar said strong recruitment over the off-season and steady junior talent meant they had ‘arguably the best midfield in the league’ in 2022.
“I am really looking forward to seeing our recruits continue to gel with the team. All over the ground, we are looking pretty strong at the moment,” he said.
“On paper we have an intimidating side. We know we will not be overly quick, but we will be a bullish, contested ball, no backward-step style of team.
“Our side has a lot of heart. For us it is ‘we not me’ and we live and breathe that.”
Beugelaar said the Roos expected to push deep into finals this season.
“Anything less than finals would be a loss. We have teed up this season as our year. Even though things are looking great, and on paper we should achieve what we are setting out to achieve, we won’t know until game day.”
Beugelaar said he hoped this season would allow communities and supporters of Wimmera sport to experience a ‘kind of normality’ again.
“The region has missed the benefits of community sport and no doubt we will all be dealt curveballs throughout the year, but hopefully we can deal with them and move forward,” he said.
Senior netball coach and netball director Antoinette Toet said plenty of new faces would represent Dimboola’s A Grade side this season.
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost quite a few A Grade players to work, university commitments and long-term injury. But the squad had good energy over pre-season,” she said.
“We want to get on court again after an interrupted 2021. We have been training and keeping on top of our fitness this offseason and that has ramped up over the past fortnight.”
She said a club ethos on developing junior netballers would pay dividends this season as more senior netball spots became available.
“We always look at promoting our junior players whenever we can. At least a couple developing juniors are always involved with the squad or vying for selection,” she said.
“We don’t want to make it a big shock for them when they do step into senior netball.”
Toet said with a core group of players leaving the club, things would change, but they were still hoping to be competitive.
“It is anyone’s guess how the season will go. But the players here are committed,” she said.
“We will build on last season, even if it takes a bit longer than first thought.
“We always encourage our players to play the highest quality netball they can. We want to have fun, but also be competitive.
“We are a close-knit group and we will carry our team-first mentality, we play for common goals not individual success.”