Could Boronia coach Matt Clark cross paths with former club Wantirna South?
It’s a possibility. Clark has recommitted to the Hawks for a further two years after signing a contract extension until the end of 2021.
He coached Wantirna South to a flag in 2014 and joined Boronia ahead of the 2018 season. A premiership this year would take Boronia up to EFL Division 1, where the Hawks would meet the Devils in 2020.
“Hopefully that’s on the agenda,” Clark said.
“Ultimately our goal is to be playing against them next year.”
Clark said it was a logical decision to extend his stay at Tormore Reserve.
“They’re a good club with a really young list and I’m super happy where they’re at and they’re comfortable where I’m at, too,” he said.
“I really enjoy working with the guys. It’s a fun place to be at the moment.”
Clark guided Boronia to a premiership in his first season but the Hawks were not promoted as part of the competition restructure. Boronia will enter this year’s finals series on a 10-game winning streak if it defeats Ringwood on Saturday in a top-of-the-table clash. It has already secured the double chance, but has flag rivals in Ringwood, Mitcham, Heathmont and Templestowe in an open premiership race.
Clark said he wanted to take Boronia to Division 1.
“We’re trying to make it a destination club and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that at the moment,” he said.
“The players are hungry so my job is to obviously steer them in that direction. There’s no guarantee we can get there but we certainly think we’ve got a good formula to be competitive enough and be in the mix to get there.”
Clark said the Hawks would be at near full strength for a tilt at back-to-back flags.
“We’re very happy with who we’re putting out there,” he said.
“We’ve played a couple of guys, like Lachie Watson and Brayden Bowes, in the development team for the last four, five weeks.
“The hard thing — and the good thing — is we’ve got so many guys playing good footy in the seniors at the moment that some of these blokes are just finding it hard to get into the side.
“Internal pressure is driving really good training standards and game-day performance.”
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