There were plenty of mind games at the selection table on Thursday evening. NARRE WARREN named retired champion Brett ‘Birdman’ Evans, whose ankle injury prevented him from all but four matches. But instead, the Magpies brought in Dandenong Stingrays and listed Jake Calvert for his senior debut. “It was an inspired decision, I suppose,” Narre Warren coach Chris Toner said. “With every final we’ve played, we’ve tried to do something different.” Calvert replaced Dylan Quirk, who was named best on ground in the reserves premiership win. CRANBOURNE’s team was similarly baffling. Michael Theodoridis was selected, but it would have taken a miracle for him to play. The rising forward suffered a serious arm injury in the preliminary final and was seen wearing a cast on the weekend. Laurence Angwin, who hadn’t played since round nine and had seemingly walked out on the club, was also selected. Defender Troy Datson came into the team for Theodoridis. “Realistically, if Theodoridis played, then Datson would have missed out on a fairytale finish,” Cranbourne coach Doug Koop said. “We had to decide between Datson, (John) Frenken and young (Max) Gearon and it was really, really tough and it took all week to make a final decision. We decided on ‘Dato’ because his form in the twos was really solid.”
The final siren brought the inevitable announcement of retirements. Datson, who first played with CRANBOURNE in 1990, signalled his intention to retire. It was fitting that he walked away from the game with a premiership medal for the club he’d given so much service to. NARRE WARREN ruckman Matt Olney, who played his 300th match earlier in the year, also decided to hang up the boots. The aggressive big man followed coach Chris Toner from NILMA DARNUM this year.
CONGRATULATIONS to Gippsland Umpires Association whistleblowers Chris Berendorff, David Louch and Mark Boraston, who had the honour of officiating in the senior GFL grand final at Morwell on Saturday. Berendorff had previously umpired two Ellinbank grand finals and Louch and Boraston one each, but it was the first GFL grand final for all three. In a high intensity game that saw a lot of free kicks awarded, there were few grumbles from either side which suggests the men-in-white got it right. Plaudits also to boundary umpires James Quinn, Adam Young and Tysonn Hill and goal umpires Todd Fisher, Graeme Hanks and emergency Josh Nooy, who also won a gig on the biggest day of the season.
A big contingent of DROUIN supporters travelled to Morwell on Saturday, which helped the gate takings swell to over $42,000, a league record. The Hawks fans also left their mark on many road signs on the Princes Highway from Drouin to Trafalgar, putting up cardboard signs to acknowledge all their senior football and netball stars.
GARY Ablett (snr) rocked up to Cranbourne’s post-grand final celebrations to congratulate the boys on Saturday night. Ablett’s brother Geoff, a former star with Hawthorn and mayor of the City of Casey, is a huge Cranbourne fan and has been involved with the club in the background for many years.
TRARALGON’S grand final victory over DROUIN reinforced its standing as one of the most powerful and successful clubs in Gippsland and in the VCFL. Since the inception of the league in 1954 in its various guises, the LVFL/GLFL/WGLFL and now the GFL, the Maroons have won 19 premierships, which represents one every three years – a staggering record. For the record – and much to the glee of many rival clubs – the Maroons have been runners-up 17 times.
Another sign of the improvement in standard of the Gippsland league this season was illustrated by nine newcomers to the competition being selected in the 2011 team of the year. MOE’s Kain Airdrie, LEONGATHA’s Beau Vernon, WONTHAGGI’s Leigh McDonald, Earl Shaw and Lucas White, BAIRNSDALE’s James Gibbs and Luke Dyer and WARRAGUL’s Mark Bradley, all won selection in their debut season. Furthermore, TRARALGON’s premiership coach Josh Jennings, who returned to the club over summer from BELCONNON, was named as the coach of the year. On another matter – and overlooked by many – is that Jennings polled 18 votes in the Trood Award-Rodda Medal – a mighty fine effort because he sustained an injury early in the opening round and missed well over a month of football.
TRARALGON grand final star and Stan Aitken medallist Dan McKenna did his chances to be drafted back into the AFL no harm with a superb eight-goal effort against DROUIN on Saturday. Tall agile big men are hard to find and at 22 years of age and with more maturity and strength, it would be no surprise if he gets a few offers at the highest level again. McKenna, who hailed from TRARALGON and played at GIPPSLAND POWER, was a third round selection by GEELONG in the 2007 AFL draft, but aside from a few NAB pre-season games, injuries and a strong Cat line-up curtailed his career.
Surely nobody had a bigger smile on their face on Saturday than SALE fourths coach Neil Bristow. His amazing weekend started when his under-16s won the flag with the last kick of the game against BAIRNSDALE. Furthermore, Bristow’s son Macca, a ruckman who is a likely star of the future, won rave reviews for his fine palm work. Bristow had little time to celebrate, because he quickly left Morwell to drive to Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval to watch another son, James, a former GIPPSLAND POWER tall, play in GOLDEN SQUARE’s 135-point premiership victory over EAGLEHAWK. To cap off a fine Saturday, another son, Tim, a wingman who was at SALE in 2006, played in the Tasmanian State League grand final for LAUNCESTON, who beat BURNIE by 45 points. It was Tim’s second consecutive win and it iced a fine season after he won the William Leitch medal for best and fairest in the TSL this year.
SALE will join MAFFRA and MOE seeking a new coach in 2012 after Magpie tutor Nick Anderson stepped down last week. Interestingly, LEONGATHA have yet to appoint Adrian Campbell, who has been in charge of the Parrots over the last five seasons. A former MELBOURNE and FOOTSCRAY player, Campbell started at the Parrots with little to work with and has steered them to the finals in the last two seasons and has won praise as both a coach and clubman. From all reports, Campbell is keen to remain a coach and should LEONGATHA opt for a new mentor, Campbell will have quite a few clubs knocking on his door.
Kooweerup need a new coach after Justin Hill recently pulled the pin due to work commitments. President Tony Cammarano said that despite leaving on good terms, the departure of Hill was disappointing and had taken the process back to square one.
“We had put a lot of work into appointing Justin but the bright side is that it’s happened now, not in the middle of January – then we’d be in trouble”, Cammarano said.
On a brighter note, Craig Dyker has won the senior B&F from Jack Carson.
Cammarano is also hoping for a financial windfall with his wife Jackie participating in the Star News Group King or Queen competition, the winner collecting $10,000 for their club.
“Yeah, the 10 grand would be handy,” he chuckled.
