With the home and away season having drawn to a close on the weekend, we look back at those teams that did not make the finals in 2011. We start our season review with Frankston.
2011 Position: 13th / 2010 Position: 14th
2011 Record: 2-16 / 2010 Record: 1-17
Highest score: 17.13.115 (Rd 21 vs Coburg Tigers)
Lowest score: 5.4.34 (Rd 20 vs North Ballarat)
Leading goalkickers: Clark (24), Haretuku (15), Hockey (12)
What happened: For the second successive season Frankston won football’s unwanted utensil award. The Dolphins again found the gulf between it and its rivals beyond them as they struggled from the get-go. Ten times Frankston suffered 50-plus point defeats, including a 20-goal mauling by Port Melbourne, and only twice did its losses fall in the margin bracket under 20-points – its round 2 clash against Sandringham and round 7 against Northern Bullants. Clearly, the highlight for the Dolphins, who managed one more win than they did last season, was its two wins against Coburg Tigers, headlined by a 67-point win at home in round 21. Frankston’s woes were many, both offensively and defensively. The Dolphins had to wait until round 21 before it kicked its first 100-point scoreline for the season while they surrendered 11 scores of 100 plus points.
Star performers: For all its troubles there does appear to be some upside for Frankston, whose list of young players gained an insight of what is required to play competitive at VFL level. Certainly Khan Haretuku, Russ Gabriel, Toby Thoolen, Shane Hockey and Mark Baguely all played well.
What’s needed: Experience. Apart from captain Paul Kennedy and Clint Proctor, Frankston had very few players under 25 and none with any AFL experience. The Dolphins need a sprinkling of veterans to help the youngsters and the indication is that this may happen next season.
Last Modified on 31/08/2011 14:56