Sport
11 April, 2024
Op-ed: Giants make their mark on town
When all the overcast clouds from Saturday cleared up, it was clear that what people had seen at Hedges Oval was the mark of a new club that isn’t going to be taken lightly in season 2024 and beyond. It was always going to be exciting to see how...
When all the overcast clouds from Saturday cleared up, it was clear that what people had seen at Hedges Oval was the mark of a new club that isn’t going to be taken lightly in season 2024 and beyond.
It was always going to be exciting to see how the Maryborough Giants were going to fit in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Net-ball League (MCDFNL) landscape, born from the amalgamation of Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park.
Of course, there have been questions over the recent past of the viability of sport in Maryborough, particularly from a football and a netball standpoint, with three clubs taking players and volunteers off one another.
I’ve always been very open in my time here that I’ve wanted all clubs to perform strongly, no matter where they sat on the ladder.
But with the creation of the Giants, this has the potential to help the town ease the pressure on those groups, and make it stronger for both themselves, as well as the Bendigo Football Netball League’s Maryborough Magpies.
The Giants have undoubtedly done a power of work to get up and going, and there have been some early rewards in terms of results.
The under 11.5 kids had the honour of pulling on the Giants jumper for the first time, and after conceding an early goal, they roared back into the game and proved to be too good for Talbot, taking a 15-point victory.
The scenes in the rooms were terrific, with sheets handed out to the players so they can learn the song. While that’s still a learning process, it’s clear that they might be singing that song a few more times throughout the year.
It was part of three football victories the Giants enjoyed on Saturday afternoon, with the under 14.5s hanging on in a thriller, while the under 17.5 team dominated throughout.
On the netball court, the signs were just as encouraging.
Talbot’s strong 11 and under team scored the first win of the day, winning 12-1. But the Giants soon got things on their terms on the court, eventually winning the 17 and under, C grade and B grade games comfortably.
A terrific crowd had, by then, poured in to Hedges Oval — one which rivalled the final game for Royal Park last season, as well as the final clash between Bushy and Maryborough Rovers.
Heralding in the new club, the Maryborough City Brass Band brought to life the Giants’ new song, which is lifted from the GWS Giants song, while also allowing both teams to line up for the national anthem.
It must be said that this was a celebration of football and netball for both teams.
Talbot were just as deserving to be celebrated on the day — this was their first chance in five and a half years to have a standalone game on the big stage in the MCDFNL, and made use of that opportunity with some enterprising football and netball of their own.
It’s an open secret that the Hawks are still rebuilding in a sense with a young lineup on both the field and the court, and certainly, there is some optimism that the club can continue to perform strongly.
As far as from a football and netball perspective goes for the Giants, my expectation was that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and that rings true for this new team.
Certainly, from a netball perspective, the opportunity to push towards the top four is there, and we’ll certainly learn a lot more about the club next week when they take on Trentham, who finished fifth last season.
From first impressions, however, there’s a lot of encouraging signs.
The midcourt put together an impressive performance in the sense that they were able to bring the ball in to their goal third effectively and efficiently, and were able to get a good second half in after an impressive Talbot performance in the second quarter.
From a football perspective, it’s easy to forget that the club is still trying to build with two lists that took six wins respectively last season.
On Saturday, they showed signs of perhaps being able to compete with teams in the lower rungs of the top eight.
There is still work to be done — particularly in their forward conversion. Coach Damian Cupido lamented that the Giants could have 20 more inside 50s, yet go down by a point, while also having four more scoring shots.
Much like the netballers, we will get a renewed sense of where the Giants will sit when they travel to Trentham for their first away game next week.
But for now, the Giants have been able to get underway in the best possible fashion — strong junior performances and a renewed sense of optimism.
Many who were there will now know that there was plenty to work on, but plenty to work with.
And, at the end of the day, here’s hoping that continues to be the case for every sporting group in Maryborough and the surrounding districts.
Because, after all, they all deserve to be given their full support by the people in their respective towns.
