By Gavin Staindl
DEPARTING Gippsland Power coach Adam Dowie admitted bowing out of the TAC Cup finals in straight sets might hinder his players’ chances of being drafted.
Gippsland was severely beaten by Oakleigh Chargers on Sunday at Visy Park, topping off a horrible run that saw it lose its last five games, including back-to-back finals.
Dowie, who resigned after Sunday’s 68-point drubbing, said the losses would count against his players come draft time.
“It probably will matter,” Dowie said.
“It’s not the results that will really matter, but if we had won one of our last two then that would have meant (fringe players) Jack Johnstone, Shaun Marusic and Simon Deery would have really stood up. But they all had quiet finals.
“It might affect their chances, but it’s out of our hands now.”
Despite missing Sam Docherty and Clay Smith for Sunday’s do-or-die final, Dowie still expects the pair to be drafted alongside defender Josh Tynan, midfielder Danny Butcher and big man Jordan Staley.
But five losses in a row – including the two finals demolitions – did nothing to help the causes of Gippsland’s fringe players.
After a standout year at centre-half-back, Marusic went missing in the finals.
Despite winning the Coaches’ Award at Sunday night’s TAC Cup presentation night, Marusic, 19, is a chance to be overlooked after averaging only 10 disposals in the two finals and lacking any assertion on the matches.
It was a similar story for Johnstone and Deery.
Halfway through the year they were considered certainties to find an AFL club, but now their futures are as uncertain as the trajectory of a bouncing football.
Team performances, such as the one on Sunday, did not reflect kindly on the Gippslanders either.
Unlike the metro sides, including Oakleigh, that train up to three times a week, Gippsland can only afford to meet once – and it showed against its opponent.
The rolling zone that the Chargers used to prevent Gippsland moving out of half-back clogged up any space that the vast Visy Park initially offered.
Hope for Gippsland rested in the packs where it relied on winning the contested ball, but unlike Oakleigh, that spread comfortably from stoppages, the Power was devoid of targets moving forward.
It was a sour swansong for Dowie, who decided to discontinue his two-year plan with the TAC Cup team after only one season because of family reasons.
“I felt it was too hard to really commit to this job while my family had to suffer,” Dowie said.
Dowie, a father of four, said his decision had nothing to do with the five consecutive losses at the end of the season.
“I was a little bit disappointed at the end of the year and I was a bit tired … but my choice had nothing to do with the last few weeks,” Dowie said.
“It just wasn’t right for me and the family.
“We missed the beaches (of Warrnambool) and as much as the Warragul community was good to us, we couldn’t keep doing it.
“I wanted to use this as a stepping stone on to bigger things, but I guess I just don’t sleep, eat and breathe football.”
