Nil goals for Nilma

By Ken Moore
“WE are going to stick it out. There are plenty of good people at this club and we are going to stick fat,” a defiant Brad Sinclair, coach of Nilma Darnum, said on Saturday evening.
His team had just lost by 119 points – and not scored a goal – against the top of the table and early season EDFL flag favourites, Garfield.
Nilma’s abject performance was in no small way due to the much publicised split from the club by its marquee player and former AFL star, Mal Michael, last week.
The Bombers, who won the 2009 premiership with Michael making a major contribution, now sit at the foot of the table, winless after five rounds.
Sinclair, who last year coached Michael at Western Border League club Heywood, is a personal friend of Michael’s and went camping with him over the Easter weekend to discuss his future football plans.
Sinclair said the former triple Brisbane premiership player cited a combination of the lack of professionalism among the playing group at Nilma – and the long road trips to and from his inner city residence – for his decision to leave.
Michael, who turns 34 in June, said his body did not recover properly from the long journeys and to prolong whatever career he had left in his battered body, it was in his best interests to play at a club that required much less travel. Michael was cleared to Essendon Football League Division 1 club Aberfeldie, where he kicked two goals in their 62-point victory over the Doutta Stars on Saturday.
Last Tuesday only eight players turned up for training, but Sinclair was more buoyant on Thurday night when most at the club rallied and 42 players attended.
While the senior side was poleaxed by the Stars, the Bomber reserves put in a respectable performance on Saturday, losing by about six goals.
Sinclair insisted the club still had a future and said seven of the boys who played in the seniors on Saturday were eligible for the thirds and would be the players to build the foundations of the club around.
Sinclair said the club was still on the outlook for players and was pleased their latest newcomer, Tyler Walters, who was best on ground in Ellinbank’s victorious Under 18 grand final team last season, joined the club last week and made a big impact against the Stars.
“He was terrific, played well and was deservedly in our best six players,” Sinclair said, adding, “he is the type of player we need to move forward.”
With Michael’s departure, what is of immediate concern for Nilma Darnum is the future of their partnership with AFL Papua New Guinea.
Through the project, which was heavily organised and promoted by Michael, who was born in Papua New Guinea, the Bombers have hosted two PNG players, 18-year-old Johnny Ikupu, an agile ruckman, and 21-year-old Stanis Susuve, a midfielder, who played at the Gold Coast Suns.
Both youngsters, who have impressed this season, enjoyed playing alongside Michael, who is their mentor and hero. Whether they stay at the club is now in doubt.
Nilma has not fielded a thirds team this season, so it does not have a ready supply of juniors to graduate to the senior ranks.