RIVERINA FILES: CAK SEASON REVIEW

COLLINGULLIE-ASHMONT-KAPOOKA

2014 Finish: Premiers

Home & Away: 15 wins; 1 loss

Finals Form: Bye

Lost major semi-final to MCUE.

Won preliminary final against Coolamon.

Won grand final against MCUE.

Club Best & Fairest: Brad Aiken

Club Rookie of the Year: Harry Perryman

Telstra Rising Star: Harry Perryman

Snapshot:

RFL Premiers. What more can you say? The record books show that Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka reached the pinnacle just four seasons after switching from the Farrer League, and erased the heartache of two straight grand final losses. In Shane Lenon’s final season as coach at the Crossroads, Gullie lost just two games all year – both to old rival MCUE – in the opening round of the season, and in the major semi-final after a week off as minor premiers. In between, they’d set the standard for the competition with a 15-game winning streak. After the finals loss to the Goannas, Collingullie bounced back to win a gritty encounter against Coolamon, before turning the tables on Mangoplah on grand final day, hauling themselves out of a hole late in the second quarter and going on to outlast MCUE in a thrilling decider. “I’ve talked to a lot of older fellas – and not just Collingullie people – and they said it was one of the best grand finals they’ve seen,” says Brett Lenon, a selector last season who steps up to co-coach in 2015. “That’s from blokes who’ve been around a long time. I played in five and even though I wasn’t even playing, this one was the most rewarding for me. Just for the way it was won and the effort that went in.”

Brad Aiken was in mercurial form throughout the season after being moved to a halfback flank. It proved a masterstroke, with the veteran winning the Jim Quinn Medal for providing the drive that set up much of the Demons’ play. Dual Quinn Medallist Chris Gordon was strong in the middle again, but it was the development and consistency of the Collingullie youngsters that proved the difference.

Gordon – who coached the under 17s for the past two years – will have an even bigger hand in the development of those promising footballers next season, after taking on the co-coaching role alongside Lenon. “I’m really looking forward to coaching with Gordo. We get on real good and it just made sense that we teamed up. Hopefully I can take the pressure off him so it doesn’t affect his game. On game day, he can concentrate on getting a kick and I’ll run the bench.

“He’s not only been a great coach for the 17s, but just a role model around the club. He’s very professional. He leads by example. He does everything right in his preparation, and he just helps the young blokes learn their footy.”

Highlights:

It’s hard to top a premiership… a victory to prove the Demons belong in the RFL, and the culmination of more than a decade of long-term planning and hard work. Ask Gordon for a highlight and he finds it hard to narrow it down. “I think the whole club in general. We’re all just one team throughout the whole year and when you have that, you have success.”

On-field, it was the improvement of players coming out of the Under 17s in the last couple of seasons. “We had a lot of kids last year, so they got an extra year in,” says Gordon. “Then with Harry Perryman and that coming up this year, no-one really expected them to go as well as they did. They were getting more and more footy so blokes had to stay on them as well, and that meant not as much pressure on our more experienced players.”

Lenon says Perryman played the season as though he had 100 senior games under his belt, and rattles off others: Matt Kennedy, Nick Perryman, Brayden Ambler, Joe Banks, and more. “They don’t put pressure on themselves, they just go out and get a kick. They’re still professional about their footy, the way they train and approach the game, but they just seem to go out and enjoy it. The improvement in those young blokes from round one to grand final day, that was the most impressive thing.”

At the other end of the spectrum, it’s hard to go past the dominance of Brad Aiken too — “At 36 years of age, to be at his peak, to win a Quinn Medal and another club best and fairest, it’s just unbelievable,” says Lenon. “He’s got to be one of the best footballers who’s played around here.”

Lowlights:

There aren’t many in a premiership-winning team. Perhaps only that it’s the end of an era at the Crossroads. The respected Shane Lenon moves on after taking his team to the top, co-captain Chris Gow calls it a day after adding an RFL title to his five Farrer League premierships and Matt Lewington also enters retirement.

Surprise Packet:

There were plenty of teenagers whose improvement was crucial to Collingullie’s success, including Harry Perryman who was the club’s rookie of the year and Telstra Rising Star. But the club’s most improved award went to Nick Kennedy, who also received Gordon’s nod of approval. “I reckon this year, he stepped up a lot. Last year he was on the verge, but this year he was almost certain to get picked every week. He was the standout for me. He worked on his consistency, his skills, defence, offence. And once had the footy, he was using it really well.”

Areas to improve:

Defending a premiership can be harder than winning one, so there’s no room for complacency. Shane Lenon was renowned for his punishing pre-seasons and it’s clear Brett intends to carry on the family tradition after he was asked about his big focus for 2015: “Pre-season. Once you’ve won it, you have to work twice as hard to be any chance of going back-to-back. Fitness is what we’re concentrating on. So it’s going to be a huge pre-season.”

Gordon says there’s always room to improve, and mentions the midfield structures and set-up. While Lenon points out highlights from a great grand final victory that serve as a reminder of what it takes. “There were a lot of small things in that game that on their own weren’t much, but put together they really made a different. A lot of those little efforts led to something.” He recalls Brenton Loudon – with a popped shoulder – pressuring an opponent into a fumble. Three kicks later Gullie had kicked a crucial goal. “And Brenton didn’t even touch the ball.”

There are also some holes to fill with the retirements of Gow and Lewington, while Josh Meiselbach has headed to The Rock and Brenton Loudon will remain in Sydney. But the club has been active in bringing some familiar names to Collingullie…

What to look forward to:

At least three players head to Collingullie from Culcairn, with James Morris and Will Haines returning to the club, and Haines’ brother Tim also joining the Demons for the first time.

“Comparing to this year, we’ll probably be a bit taller and bigger around the ground,” says Lenon. “We’ve lost a couple of whippy blokes that have moved on or finished up… and we’ve topped up with some extra talls. But I don’t think much will change in the way we play. It’ll be fairly similar. We were very good at stoppages. Our spreadwork was good and that comes back to leg speed and work rate, and that’s what we’ll be looking for again.”

Lenon says Morris gives Gullie a genuine centre half forward option – which was something they missed last season – making another target up forward along with the league’s leading goalkicker Brent Arho.

Gordon is looking forward to taking his coaching to senior level. “With the 17s, we worked a lot on skills and put a lot of time and effort into each kid. I just loved it, that’s why I said to Gullie I wanted to coach, to keep on coaching those boys and play alongside them. I’m really excited.”