Lenders has Midas touch

By Brad Kingsbury
DISTRICT football doyen Joe Lenders identified the potential of Pakenham teenager Tyson Goldsack when he was running around as a small and skinny teenager with the Lions juniors.
Lenders, who is a multiple senior premiership coach and also cocoached the Pakenham under18s with Tyson’s father Peter, acted on his opinion and rang Gippsland Power football manager Peter Francis before the 2005 season to put Tyson’s name forward as a TAC Cup prospect.
Lenders’ judgement proved deadly accurate again and peaked on Saturday when Goldsack’s name was called by Collingwood at pick number 63 in the AFL National draft.
“I did push very hard for him initially, but it was Tyson that proved he could play the game and that’s a credit to him,” Lenders said.
“He developed late, but there was so much room for improvement and he dedicated himself to his football when he got the chance with Gippsland Power.”
Tyson and his father Peter both credited Lenders, who is a forward scout for the Power, with significant influence on the talented teenager’s development into a 191cm tall utility that has impressed as a halfforward, midfielder and centre halfback in his two seasons with the TAC Cup side.
Goldsack said they were a tight group at Power and that helped a lot.
“I always played over age and was always the small guy in my juniors, but that didn’t really worry me,” he said.
“Joe and dad always supported and encouraged me and Huddo (Power coach Paul Hudson) was really great too. He kept giving me a go and pushed me to be better.”
Goldsack was not invited to the AFL draft camp, but attended the State screening process where the Magpies were joined by Hawthorn and Fremantle in showing interest in him.
He said, despite being a Hawks fan, he was more interested in his local area and thrilled to be picked up by Collingwood.
“I’ve never really been a diehard AFL supporter. It’s been more about Paky and then the Power for me, because I was playing there,” he said.
“It’s good having guys like (former Power teammates) Dale Thomas and Scott Pendlebury down at Collingwood and I also know (former Dandenong Stingray) Daniel Nichols and I’m getting a lift to training with him.”
Goldsack knows that the hard work is just beginning, but Lenders said he was confident that the young player would give his chance at AFL stardom his best shot and would enjoy watching his progress.
“Sometimes as a coach, especially in juniors, it’s more about people than the team,” he said.
“When Peter (Goldsack) and I were coaching together we always set a goal that we would be able to lean on the fence in 10 years time, watch kids that we’d coached and say, ‘well we had a little bit to do with that’. It will be great to watch Tyson’s journey now.”