Riverina files: Coolamon season review

2014 Finish: 3rd (Home & Away season: 13 wins & 3 losses)

Finals Form: Lost qualifying final to MCUE.

Won major semi-final against Wagga Tigers.

Lost preliminary final to CAK

Club Best & Fairest: Peter McGrath

Club Rookie of the Year: Mitch McKelvie

Telstra Rising Star: Jesse Rapley

Snapshot:  

With Lew Roberts taking over from Matt Hard as coach the Hoppers were a threat all season, but struggled to consistently play their best football. It was there in patches, but rarely for four full quarters of a game.

Heavy mid-season losses to Mangoplah and Collingullie in consecutive weeks suggested their premiership defence might be under threat, particularly as they’d also lost to Collingullie in round three.

Roberts managed to get the campaign back on track in the back half of the season but those periodic lapses in concentration returned to haunt them in the finals. Coolamon blew a 40-point lead against Mangoplah and lost.

The following week they let Wagga Tigers claw back a five-goal deficit, and were in danger of exiting the finals in straight sets before a couple of late goals sealed victory.

But their season ended in disappointing fashion at Robertson Oval a week later when Collingullie outlasted the Hoppers in a tough, low-scoring preliminary final.

“It’s hard to put my finger on it, to be honest,” Hard says. “Comparing it to a premiership year the before, they’re probably marked pretty hard. But I think they probably just didn’t play to their potential.

“Why that was, I’m not sure… whether it was a result of the success the year before and so they just thought it would happen or what, I don’t know.”

Hard was an assistant to Roberts, reversing their roles from the 2013 premiership season, but wasn’t as involved as he would’ve liked due to commitments with the RFL representative team, and the NSW/ACT Rams.

However, with Roberts returning to Melbourne, Hard returns as non-playing coach in 2015 – his third coming as Coolamon coach.

Highlights:  

There was no shortage of experienced talent on the Coolamon list but the highlight for the incoming coach was the development and improvement among the younger players.

“We’ve got some really good kids in the midfield… like Jesse Rapley, Luke Redfern and Mitch McKelvie. And that’s where the improvement’s going to come from next year, those blokes building on what they’ve learnt.”

Pete McGrath’s arrival from Canberra was also a success, winning the Hoppers’ best and fairest award.

However, he was full of praise for some fellow experienced campaigners. “You’ve got players like Jamie Maddox and Ryan Chamberlain who consistently do a great job week in, week out.

They impressed me because they just put in every week, make sure they do their job, and never let anyone down.”

All three have re-signed for 2015, along with Ben Fixter and Ben Edyvean, among others.

Lowlights:   

Lapses. They were the curse of coach Roberts, and by the end of the preliminary final against Collingullie, they were the curse of the club. McGrath also finds it hard to label the cause precisely.

“Certainly coming to a club that was successful the previous year, there was the talent here to go all the way. Whether it was a premiership hangover… I’m not sure. I don’t think fitness was an issue, maybe just more concentration issues.

“And I think we just lacked a little bit of hunger at times. In some games, other teams were just a little bit hungrier.”

Surprise Packet:   

Mitch McKelvie’s season ended on the sidelines with a knee injury, but prior to that training incident, he’d been a standout for the Hoppers. Hard had seen glimpses of his potential in 2013, and liked what he saw when McKelvie made himself at home in first grade in 2014.

“I think he’ll be a good footballer.” 

McKelvie didn’t require a full knee reconstruction and is expected to be running by the beginning of pre-season.

Areas to improve:   

Mid-game slumps are the obvious problem crying out for a solution.

As McGrath says, ‘You can’t win premierships if you play well in patches.

“Next year, it’s focussing on four-quarter efforts and improving the concentration… there were times where we’d drop off and teams would kick five or six goals on us. That’s something we’ve got to eradicate.”

Hard says it’s too early to say exactly what areas of their game will get the most focus.

“Probably haven’t narrowed it down yet, to be precise,” he says. “You can never be too fit, that’s one thing. We need consistency. We need to get the skill level better. All those little things. And it’s also attitude…if that’s not 100 percent, you won’t get anywhere.”

There’s also some more recruiting to be done, particularly to cover for the loss of Lew Roberts and Joe Redfern to Melbourne, and the retirements of Luke Maloney and Rick Pritchett.

“That’s some pretty handy footballers we’ll be without… So we do need to find a few players – that’s the joy of this time of year, getting on the phone to try and bring people to our club,” Hard says with a laugh, before suggesting joy is probably not the word for it!

What to look forward to:   

The recruitment of former AFL player Chris Ladhams shapes as a coup for the club. “He obviously adds a lot of experience, he’s played at the highest level,” says Hard. “He’ll add a lot to our group, even new ideas.

“I’m looking forward to picking his brain and getting different ideas and he’s keen to share them. I’m not expecting him to get 50 touches and kick 10 goals every week, but he’ll contribute.

“A goal-kicking midfielder, he can play forward, he can play in the midfield at times. He’s got a lovely kick on him, and he’s definitely dangerous … so we’ll see how we shape up in the next few months.”

McGrath says the influence of the former Crows forward will be crucial.

“I think for a club like Coolamon to be successful, we rely on the younger players coming through.

“And there’s a lot of good young players… but to have the experience of guys like Chris coming into the club is really important for the development of those younger players.”

With McGrath, Maddox, Chamberlain, Fixter and co. all committed for another season there is a burning desire for Coolamon to repeat the premiership success of 2013.

“Pete’s been absolutely sensational for our footy club.. on and off the field,” says Hard.

“Ben and Ryan – you don’t lose the hardness they provide. And Jamie Maddox, we’ll he’s as fit as ever and champing at the bit…Those blokes are filthy on not going out the way they’d wanted at the end of the year.

“Hunger won’t be a problem for them boys. I know they’ll lead by example on the field… that’s just a natural instinct.”