CRANBOURNE supporters were put out (and that’s putting it nicely) about BERWICK coach Dean Rice’s swipe in the Gazette last week at the club about paying for recruits. Rice asked how the Eagles could afford to pay their star-studded line-up after it gave his side a severe touch-up in the second semi-final. But former Cranbourne president and life member Frank Johnson answered that pretty well while watching Berwick cop a beating from NARRE WARREN on Sunday. “Rice should check his facts before putting his mouth into gear. If he bothered to look he would find that, excluding Caleb Tiller, every player who pulled on a Cranbourne jumper last weekend was a home-grown product who came through the juniors and who love playing for the club,” Johnson said. “They don’t come demanding big money and they are loyal players who enjoy playing with and for their mates.” The Eagles had plenty of support from NARRE WARREN and DOVETON folk, too, with one senior Magpie official endorsing Johnson’s comments and adding that, with its track record and player turnover over the past few years, Berwick was the last club that should be talking about paying massive amounts to mercenaries who had taken the money and run.
TWO high-profile KEYSBOROUGH players are being hawked around clubs across the region and beyond as part of a player/coach package in 2012. There is more than a little interest down Mornington Peninsula way, according to rumours at the Nepean League grand final last weekend. The Burra is under all sorts of pressure in over on and off-field personnel and the loss of any of its stars would be a huge blow as it tries to build momentum for next season.
THE mind games during last weekend’s preliminary final between NARRE WARREN and BERWICK were comprehensively won by Magpies coach Chris Toner. After an off-field stoush between several players from each side in a nightclub after the Wickers won the second semi-final, Toner made it public that the incident would be squared up by the Magpies at some stage during the weekend. That included writing the names of Berwick players on boards (for all to see) and making sure the focus was on comments allegedly made by Wickers concerning the Magpies lack of strength and heart whenever there were ears around. Of course, there was not one punch thrown as Narre Warren ran over the Wickers on the day, but all the talk among Berwick supporters was about when (not if) it would happen. The Magpies’ mentor laughed all the way to the grand final and is fast becoming a formidable foe when it comes to unsettling opposing players.
CRANBOURNE’S decision to field senior player Michael Theodoridis in the reserves preliminary final backfired when the gun forward suffered an arm injury in the third term.
“It was up to him (if he wanted to play),” Cranbourne coach Doug Koop said.
“Theo didn’t have a great game in the ones (against BERWICK), his inexperience caught up with him a bit and the game sort of passed him by.
He was pretty keen to have a gallop. Unfortunately, he put himself in a position where he could get injured, but it could have happened in the first minute next Saturday.”
Meanwhile, NARRE WARREN star Lee Boyle was stretchered off with a knee injury during the senior match. He remains a chance to play, leading the Magpie boys to nickname him “Buddy” after AFL superstar Lance Franklin, who recovered from a seemingly serious knee injury to play last Friday night.
AFTER Beau Miller stepped down as TOORADIN-DALMORE coach, the club moved quickly to appoint Tom Hallinan, who is no stranger to the Seagulls. Hallinan coached the club to its sole Casey Cardinia finals appearance in 2006. He played more than 330 senior matches with the Northern Bullants, Balwyn, Nar Nar Goon, Oakleigh Districts and Doveton, as well as a previous stint with the Seagulls, where he won a best and fairest. “The club is rapt with his appointment,” said Miller, who cited work and family commitments as the reason he stood down. “I just wanted to step aside and concentrate on footy. It’s the best for myself and the club. I really enjoyed coaching, but I couldn’t fit enough into the day.” Miller confirmed that Tooradin-Dalmore would remain in the Casey Cardinia league next year, quashing rumours the club would be moving to the Ellinbank league. “The club applied (for entry in the Ellinbank league) when it (the restructure) was first floated, about eight weeks ago,” he said. “I spoke to the (Seagulls) president (Derek Genoni) on Friday and he said it was old news. The club is definitely staying in the Casey Cardinia.”
THE exit of Hallinan from NAR NAR GOON has opened up another opportunity to join the assistant coaching ranks at Spencer Street. The club has had the feelers out for weeks for assistants to coach Clint Williams, who will make club history when he steps out for his sixth straight season at the Goon in 2012, replacing Tony Hamill as the club’s longest-serving coach. Williams has declared next season will be his last as senior coach, giving one of the assistants the opportunity to make a play for the top role the following year.
INTERESTING story from last week’s second semi-final at Edwin Flack Reserve between CRANBOURNE and BERWICK. The contest was a huge fizzer as far as a contest went and one league director could not hide his boredom. As the one-sided clash unfolded, our man was spied in what was at first believed to be deep concentration, but later found to be a deep sleep. He will from now be known as “Noddy” to his peers.
PLENTY of quality players were left out of the recently released team of the year. Players that could consider themselves unlucky included Josh Tonna, Aaron McIver and Ben Wragg (NARRE WARREN), Kerem Baskaya (HAMPTON PARK), Brad Fowler and Brett Robinson (BERWICK), Matthew Clarke and Andrew Logan (ROC), Nathan Lieshout and Dean Blake (Pakenham), Troy Tharle-Adams (CRANBOURNE) and John Atwell (DOVETON).
THE 2011 Gippsland Football League grand final coaches – DROUIN’s Ben Soumilas and TRARALGON’s Josh Jennings – will be super keen to win this week, more so because both have tasted their fair share of grand final defeats. Soumilas has played in six grand finals, five with GARFIELD and last season at DROUIN, for only the one victory, in 2004 when he coached the Stars against WARRAGUL. Jennings has played in four grand finals, all with his former club BELCONNEN (ACT) and also for a solitary win, in 2009, having tasted the pain of defeat three times in the ACT competition big one against the SYDNEY SWANS reserves. While Soumilas is building a reputation as one of the best mentors in Gippsland – and looks destined to be a career coach – a victory against the Maroons, in what looks as a 50-50 contest, will make his CV far more appealing.
AND we hear that another budding career coach, Joel Ferguson, who also had a short stint under Ben Soumilas at GARFIELD but played most of his football at NAR NAR GOON, was last weekend appointed senior coach at ROXBURGH PARK, a division two side in the Essendon District Football League. Ferguson, the son of former West Gippsland league boss, Rod, was an assistant coach at CLAYTON this season.
ELLINBANK’S 2011 best and fairest award was won by its assistant coach, Terry Mildren. He won narrowly from the ever-consistent Ash Wallace, while defender Andrew Quirk came third. Last season’s winner, Josh Peterson, was fourth and 16-year-old rising star Nathan Paredes was fifth. Mildren was on the CASEY SCORPIONS roster in recent seasons and crossed to the Bankers over summer from GARFIELD.
BAIRNSDALE has appointed Alistair Ford as senior coach for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. He replaces Brenton Cowell, who announced he was stepping down just before the end of the home-and-away season. Football aficionados may recall Ford was a lanky, tall forward, who played 38 games with FOOTSCRAY and ST KILDA in the early to mid-1980s. The Redlegs rejoined the league this season and surprised many with their competitiveness and were in contention for a finals appearance until their last-round defeat by DROUIN. Ford should have plenty to work with in the coming seasons, because the Bairnsdale thirds and fourths have made it through to Saturday’s grand final.
IS IT the end of an era? After seven premierships from eight grand final appearances in the 2000s, MAFFRA has missed this season’s grand final after Saturday’s preliminary final loss to DROUIN. Incredibly, the Eagles have not missed the finals since 1999. MAFFRA will also be on the hunt for a new coach after Graeme Robbins announced a few weeks back that he would not seek the gig next year. Word around the traps suggests former Eagle midfielder and dual Gippsland League Trood Award-Rodda medallist Nick Hider, who coached SALE CITY to a second consecutive North Gippsland premiership last Saturday, has firmed for the job.
