Senior Men’s
Ladder Position: 4th (10-6, 135.45%)
Best and Fairest winner: Cooper Frith
Leading Goalkicker: Ben Bronsgeest (41 goals from 18 games)
Summary:
A finals appearance this year for the Magpies was their first since 2018. After their finish to the 2022 season, the club dropped to Division Four for the first time in the club’s history. It however marked a new era for the Magpies as the club appointed Craig McKenzie as senior coach. A great pickup for Scoresby, McKenzie having served at both Daylston and Boronia in recent years, brought a new dynamic to the club.
The Magpies managed to stay inside the top four for the entire season, with a playing group mixed of a few experienced veterans and a ton of youth.
After a few injuries in the second half of the season, the Magpies finished fourth and came into the first week of the finals as heavy underdogs. They shocked everyone by knocking off the in-form Chirnside Park Panthers. A week later they bowed out in the Preliminary Final against Surrey Park, the eventual premiers.
In just the first year under McKenzie, there’s a lot to like about the Magpies and their chances of a premiership in future seasons.
Key Players:
Vice-Captain, Cooper Frith capped off a great season by winning the club’s Best and Fairest. A very consistent season, playing through the middle and also ending up with 23 goals. Behind him in the count was Dale Hehir, twelve times in the best from 17 games, 19 goals.
Declan McBean was a standout in his first year at Scoresby. The former Noble Park youngster kicked 28 goals from 15 games. McBean was a proven match-winner, finishing the year off on fire, with 12 goals from his final four matches of the season, two of those being finals encounters.
The three all made the EFNL Team of the Year, along with Ben Bronsgeest, and Bailey Marshall.
Best Win: Semi-Final 1 – Scoresby 8.14 62 def. Chirnside Park 8.11 59 @East Ringwood Reserve
Heading into the Semi-Final, which was a win-or-go-home scenario, most expected Scoresby to be overrun by the in-form side of the competition, Chirnside Park. The Panthers had won nine games on the trot, defeating all other finalists over that period.
Scoresby got off to a quick start in the first quarter with three majors. Over the next two quarters, the Panthers took back control of the game with six goals to two. However, they appeared to run out of gas in the final term as the Magpies ran over the top, doubling the Panthers scoring shots and holding on for a famous three-point victory.
No surprise to see their experienced stars in Hehir and Bronsgeest finish in the best. Their goals were well spread out with McBean and Hicks their only multiple goal kickers, both with two each.
Off-Season Focus:
We’ve seen the rise of Kilsyth this year, off the back of a busy off-season. There’s no reason why Scoresby can’t do something similar and go after a few talented players currently playing in Division One or Two. They arguably lacked a bit of scoring power up forward in their finals series. The Preliminary Final saw Declan McBean star with four goals and Ben Bronsgeest finish with two. But apart from that, they didn’t have too many more contributors on the scoreboard.
Add in another key forward, and some extra run, they may have progressed through to the Grand Final.
A big positive for Scoresby was their 2023 Reserves premiership win, a thriller against Surrey Park. Many of the members of that premiership team are still quite young, highlighting the depth of the senior club.
If Scoresby can also get an Under 19’s side up and running in the next couple of years, they’ll be well and truly back on the right track forward.
Premiership window is open.
Vets
This year, Scoresby joined forces with Forest Hill to field a side in the Veteran Men’s competition.
They finished the season with just the two wins from nine games but fell short in multiple games by close margins.
Paul Giannopoulos finished runner-up in the Veterans Best and Fairest, despite missing two of the nine matches. Christopher Adolph was the side’s highest goal kicker, with 11 goals, including a 5-goal haul in the side’s win against Chirnside Park.
Scoresby will look to increase their numbers in the competition next year to field their own side.