Soccer
SKYE United fans won’t see Marcus Collier leading their senior team into battle again. The 28-year-old midfielder told head coach Phil McGuinness last week that he’d decided to leave Collier made his senior debut for Skye in 2013 and is the club’s longest serving senior player after Daniel Attard.
Aside from a couple of seasons as a sub-junior at Cranbourne (Casey Comets) and a season at Seaford United in 2015 Collier has been a fixture at Skye Recreation Reserve. So why has he left? “I think it’s time for a change, not just for me but for the club,” he said.
McGuinness understands Collier’s decision and wants to see him finally realise his talent. “I’m encouraging Marcus to try out at a higher level,” McGuinness said. “He’s given so much to Skye and deserves that opportunity.” However a number of local clubs have shown interest in the midfielder who is at the peak of his powers as a footballer. Then there’s the lure of State 4 outfit Endeavour United. “I’ve got ties simply because I live there and one of my best mates (Jason Nowakowski) plays there.”
Collier came close to quitting Skye at the start of the year but McGuinness convinced him to stay. “He knew it was on the cards that I was going to leave back then,” Collier said. “I knew it was going to be a rebuild as quite a few players left but Phil got me to stay and see out the season. “We thought it was going to be a battle which is exactly how it turned out. “Right now though I’m in limbo and I honestly don’t know where I’m going. “But to the people at Skye I just want to say thankyou for everything over the years. “These people are unreal and they’ve been family to me. “I wish the new people coming in (on the committee) all the best and I hope they can take the club in the direction they want which is to get bigger and better. “I know the club is in good hands. “The new president Mick (Stevens) is a good mate of mine and I know he’ll do well.”
In State 5 news Mount Eliza head coach Gerry McDonagh will have the opportunity of putting his own stamp on the senior squad as he prepares to oversee his first pre-season with the Emil Madsen Reserve outfit. McDonagh filled the vacancy left by the sacking of Alex Halikias in the first half of last season and guided the side to a fifth-placed finish in only its second season of State League competition. Rarely does someone with McDonagh’s credentials coach at State 5 level. He played for Richmond, Frankston Pines and Bentleigh Greens before kicking off his coaching career with Sandringham’s under-16s.
His impressive CV lists senior assistants’ roles at Bentleigh Greens (under Harry Chalkitis and Dean Hennessey), Dandenong City (under Aaron Healey) and Mornington (under Adam Jamieson). His first head coaching appointment was with Berwick City for the 2017 season and in 2023 he was head coach of Doveton in what is now VPL2.
Eyebrows were raised when he took the Mount Eliza job given that he was coming out of the NPL system. “I’d taken some time off from the game until Justin (Sheppard, club president) rang me and said he’d heard I was a local so he asked me to come down and have a chat,” McDonagh said. “I met him and Gary Talbot and they explained where the club was at and what it wanted to continue doing about developing players and providing a pathway to senior football. “They’ve got around 750 juniors so developing a pathway to senior football and helping players make that transition is hopefully something I can contribute to. “That’s why I took the job.”
But McDonagh is not solely focussed on developmental coaching. “We’ve all got that competitive beast about us, haven’t we. “Anyone involved in football enjoys winning. “I certainly want to identify some of the kids in that 16, 17 and 18-year-old age group and provide a pathway for them but if we have to find additional players to fill the gaps we have we might bring a couple in.
“Like any team you need to have the right shape and organisation and there’s still room for improvement with the current group in those areas. “For us to be more potent up front there’s some more work to be done because we need to be more clinical in our attacking third.”
Mount Eliza proved to be competitive last season and it wouldn’t take much to thrust the fledgling senior squad into the promotion spotlight in 2025. For McDonagh though there is no mention of that dreaded “p” word and he was quick to underplay his team’s prospects next season. “At this stage all of our players are coming back but it remains to be seen whether or not that changes over the pre-season timeframe.
“I’m expecting Aspendale and Seaford – two of the teams that finished above us this year – will be strong again next year and you can expect someone else to emerge as they usually do. “We just hope that we can be competitive and get some results along the way.”
In VPL1 news as expected James Bretnall stepped down as president at Langwarrin’s AGM last week and was replaced by Rob Vickery, who owns HPF, Australia’s largest performance vehicle workshop. Vickery had previously held the positions of vice-president, treasurer and general committee member and has two sons playing at the club.
Bretnall has taken over the treasurer’s role, John Heskins is vice-president and Ritchie Horvat is secretary. “I’m looking to be more engaged with state government and local council regarding development at Lawton Park,” Bretnall said. “We’re looking at getting a synthetic surface on the top pitch (near the main entrance) so I have to see what that looks like and how to make that a reality. “The lighting has been done, the drainage has been done, the subsurface has been done so it’s ready to transition to a synthetic pitch.” Langwarrin also announced that Horvat, Adam Davison and Ian Lesslie have been granted life membership.
Meanwhile organiser Tanya Wallace has released the date of next year’s annual Steve Wallace Cup and Steve Wallace Plate events to be held at Langwarrin’s Lawton Park headquarters. On Saturday 18 January Langwarrin, Mornington, Peninsula Strikers, Skye United, Frankston Pines and Baxter will contest the Steve Wallace Cup. Somerville Eagles, Mount Martha, Mount Eliza, Rosebud, Seaford United and newcomer Chelsea will contest the Steve Wallace Plate.
In Football Victoria news the state federation released best and fairest and top scorer winners throughout women’s and men’s State League competition last week. In women’s State 3 South Kallista Tzelios of Seaford United was the league’s best and fairest winner while Aspendale’s Lily Smith was league top scorer. In women’s State 4 South Kira Greenwood of Mount Martha won best and fairest honours and Chelsea’s Makayla Bader was league top scorer. In men’s State 5 South Aspendale captain Matthew Bruce won the best and fairest award and evergreen Rosebud striker Dave Greening was league top scorer.
In other news Football Australia’s announcement of its new national second tier competition landed squarely in the didn’t-see-that-coming basket. Last week FA announced that its much-vaunted NST would kick off next October as a nine-round competition run over three months. The NST will feature a 16-team format, consisting of group stage matches leading to an elimination finals series that culminates in a Championship Final in early December. The competing teams will be the eight NST foundation clubs plus eight member federation premiers.
First published in the Frankston Times – 5 November 2024