Sport
20 September, 2022
Triumphant MCDFNL coaches share secrets to 2022 premiership success
It has been an almighty celebration all weekend for both Harcourt and Natte Bealiba, who ended over a decade of premiership pain in both senior football and A grade netball respectively. For Harcourt co-coaches Alex Code and Dan Wridgway, it was...
It has been an almighty celebration all weekend for both Harcourt and Natte Bealiba, who ended over a decade of premiership pain in both senior football and A grade netball respectively.
For Harcourt co-coaches Alex Code and Dan Wridgway, it was a triumph that has been three years in the making, with the club motivated by having its big chance of a drought-breaking premiership cruelly taken away by COVID in 2021.
Code was emotional following Saturday’s grand final.
“I got quite emotional. When I took the job on, I didn’t think it would be so mentally draining, especially in 2020 when we didn’t have a season at all. In 2021 we finished on top but there was that hollow feeling, so to pull it off this year is amazing. The boys and all the volunteers have done so well,” he said.
“When I started, I was able to get Dan (Wridgway) on board. Our main objective was to get our juniors back.
"We’ll always have this to come back to with reunions in the future now.”
For Code, winning the premier-ship was something he had always dreamed of, given his father and uncle had tried, but were unsuccessful, in their pursuit of glory.
“My dad and my uncle played at Harcourt, so I wore their number 17 this year. They never won a flag here, so that was another massive thing for me personally,” he said.
Code knew Harcourt would have enough in reserve to win it, yet admits he was nervous when Carisbrook got to within two points deep into the final quarter.
“When Carisbrook got that run on, I felt we just needed one goal. I was hoping it would be me, but I was cramping up. Sam Kerr, who kicked the final goal, was 50-50 for this game, but we were pleased to have been able to pick him. Just showing that leadership and experience helped us, and to put through that goal was such a relief,” he said.
“The midfield was just phenomenal, especially when the weather came through. I think that ultimately won us the game, with how well we play as a team. We had been working on our discipline throughout the last six weeks, and working with one another. Our theme word was ‘synergy’, and that got us all the way.”
Code saved special praise for best on ground winner Brayden Frost and AFL Victoria Country medallist Thomas Walters.
“Frosty is just a modest guy, he’s humble, he does all the right things on a Saturday. He gets himself up and plays all day in the ruck, it’s amazing. He backs it up with basketball as well, and he lost two grand finals this week, so there was a lot playing on his mind when it came to this grand final. As a senior footballer that has played for a long time, it is the most consistent year that I have seen from a player. It was outstanding, what he did,” he said.
“Tommy played an amazing game himself. He’s been doing everything right the last two years. He flies under the radar. A lot of players don’t give him the credit that he needs. He had a hamstring scare in the last game of the year against Newstead and we didn’t know how long he needed, but he’s done so well to get back. He just proved himself. His work rate goes unnoticed, and it’s phenomenal.”
Ultimately, however, Wridgway was just relieved that both he and Code’s hard work resulted in a well-deserved premiership.
“The chance to celebrate with the club and the community has been fantastic. There were a lot of past premiership players at the game as well. It was great to have a core group of blokes that played who were Harcourt juniors,” he said.
“You have to build on that pride and in a sense, we had been building this team over the past few years. Paul Chaplin and Sam Gale had put in a lot of work, and of course, Alex and I got on board getting a few people back, so it’s taken a few years to get back up to premiership contention.
“It was difficult not getting a result at the end of 2021. Winning the minor premiership didn’t sit too well with us, especially with the fact that we didn’t play finals or play Trentham, who were also undefeated. That was something we used as a motivator for the whole year with the group.
“We have a very strong committee and volunteers that have contributed to the success of us both on and off the field. It’s no coincidence that Harcourt featured so prominently in both football and netball finals when we have these amazing people at the club who drive the high standards to make sure we’re successful.”
Wridgway said adjustments that needed to be made at half time was key to securing the premiership.
“In the first half, I could tell that there was a lot of improvement to be made. We just weren’t playing to our full capacity. At half time, we put it to a few guys to win the football. Our mantra for the last three or four weeks has been that we wanted to be reliable, not remarkable. We shuffled a couple of things around, and touched on the fact that we wanted to take Carisbrook’s strengths away from them. In the third quarter, we got back to the way we wanted to play footy by being bold with our ball movement, and it paid dividends,” he said.
“In the past, I would say that swinging momentum hadn’t been one of our strong points, but since the middle of the year, we’ve been working hard on developing that belief among the group that there would be momentum swings, and that it wouldn’t be hard to lose sight of the fact that we can still wrestle it back in our favour.”
For Natte Bealiba A grade netball coach Sue Borserio, it was a great personal day, with the ending of the Swans’ 11-year premiership drought adding to success in the B grade netball, 13 and under netball and under 11.5 football grades.
Borserio puts the success the Swans had down to the buy-in of her strategies throughout the year, which led to great consistency across the board from the Swans.
“The day started off really well with our 13 and unders, and they’re the future of the club coming through,” she said.
“The squad of the A and B girls have a lot of young players coming through that are pushing to come up into those grades. All of the A and B grade players who took to the court knew it wasn’t a token gesture, they played for the cause all year.
“Although Naomi Medlyn, for instance, hurt her ankle in the game, it was also an opportunity to show the young ones coming through that this is what it is like and that it’s the real deal.”
Borserio is a great believer in superstition, and relied on it today, while also paying tribute to veterans Sharelle Martin and Medlyn — who finally broke through for her first A grade premiership after missing the 2011 decider.
“Sharelle Martin made a comment to me when I first came to the club that every time she’s played in an A grade grand final, Natte have won it, and the year they won it in 2011, Naomi was having a baby and missed it. So I had this silly superstition thing in my head that I needed Sharelle out there for good luck, and I thought if I had her out there, I would get it,” she said.
“Credit to her, she played two full games as goal keeper. Her experience and allowing Naomi to be in the game with Ella is a massive thing.”
Borserio said the fast start which allowed the Swans to control the game from the outset was crucial, especially since she felt they could have come out in a sluggish manner following their emotional preliminary final victory over previously undefeated Avoca.
"We have the leaders out there like Naomi, who know how to win games. We were really steady with Anna Mortlock in wing attack, and Mel Oliver sealed the deal with those goals she put through.
Borserio also paid tribute to best on court Ella Tranter, who controlled the pace of the game from the outset.
“I’m privileged as a coach to coach someone like Ella. She’s a real professional in the way she goes about training and her game, as well as her leadership with Maddi Farrell. They have just been great to have all year. Anything she is asked of — even if I don’t like it and I want changes out of it — is met, and that’s what is great about her, she is very coachable and she’ll do anything I’ll ask her to do,” she said.
