RIVERINA FILES: GRIFFITH SWANS

2014 Finish: 6th

Home & Away: 5 wins; 11 losses.

Club Best & Fairest: Tim Mathieson

Telstra Rising Star: Tom West

Snapshot:

Brandon Matthews heads into his second season as coach of Griffith a wiser man on what it will take to be a force in the RFL, and on the back of a much more promising recruitment drive. “We had a lot of trouble trying to get recruits last year. Every club goes through it at some point where you think you’re getting somewhere but every door then gets shut in your face. But we said last year, we’ve just got so many guys who are handy footballers but they haven’t really had a chance to learn. They’ve had to do too much. Guy [Orton] and Mick [Duncan] have been there, but there hasn’t been the five or six really quality players with a lot of experience to help them out. And we were asking Mick and Guy to do too much every week.”

A season that started with high expectations as the club celebrated 100 years petered out in disappointment. For much of the year, the Swans were in a position to keep the pressure on Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong for fifth spot but a serious challenge never materialised.

There were signs of promise – Griffith was more than competitive in both games against reigning premiers Coolamon, losing by just four points and 11 points; and they lost by only three goals at home to competition pace-setters Collingullie midway through the season.

However the second half of the year was a struggle. Narrow wins over Turvey Park and Leeton-Whitton suggested the Swans belonged outside the five, and heavy losses to Mangoplah, Ganmain and Collingullie in the last five rounds confirmed it.

Griffith head into 2015 without Guy Orton. What could’ve been a dramatic departure is offset by the arrivals –hopefully the half-dozen players required to help turn the club around: three handy ex-Queanbeyan footballers (Will Griggs, Ben King and Sam Daniel); Josh Hamilton available all season after spending most of last season travelling to work in the mines in Queensland; Hamilton’s brother Ryan joining the club after a couple of years away from football; and perhaps most significantly, Tom Groves, who has spent a handful of seasons in the VFL with Coburg, returns to his roots and takes on an assistant coach role. “There’s not too many blokes with that sort of experience… 70 odd games in the VFL. And he’s only 25,” says Matthews.

More on what to expect from those recruits below, in What to Look Forward To:

Highlights:

A century of Australian Rules football in Griffith was suitably celebrated in April. The Swans tracked down the names of every player to represent the club and printed an honour roll on special edition guernseys for round two against Leeton-Whitton. And there was a successful dinner the following night.

“It was a massive weekend for the club,” says president Jeff Harris. “It was our first Anzac Day night game. We had a pile of people around, people travelled back from all over the place. And we had about 275 people for the official dinner on the night so that was great.”

Matthews too was rapt in the celebrations. “It was good for the club. It was really good for the players. We don’t get to play in front of big crowds, having not played finals for a few years, the players haven’t had that, so that was good for them. It’s a pretty good achievement for a club these days to get to 100 years.”

On-field, the season was a disappointment but the coach saw enough to know he wants to remain a part of it. “Coaching was new to me. But I did like seeing guys improve. There were a couple of young guys who we didn’t expect that much of last year but they exceeded expectations. And it was a really good club to be around. Not just for the young guys, but past players too. I know you don’t get judged on your social events, but that’s what makes your footy club a footy club.”

That’s been a focus of the committee under Harris in recent years. “The club’s not just about on-field, you need to be strong and healthy outside too. Footy clubs play an important role in the community, and we’re creating an inclusive, supportive environment.”

Matthews says the off-field support was an eye-opener. “One thing I learnt is that until you’re a coach and not just playing, you don’t realise just how much goes into it… not just coaching, but the amount of people who are putting so much time and effort into the club. They don’t get anything out of it other than being part of a club.”

With that in mind, on-field performance is the focus for 2015… the coach with an obligation to offer those associated with the club something to be proud of.

Lowlights

Matthews gets straight to the point. “The disappointing thing was the performances against a few of the top sides. It was probably just experience that let us down. The positive was that we could match it with them at times, but a shame we couldn’t win one of those games. That can change the mindset a bit.”

Griffith kicked more than nine goals only three times – against Narrandera (twice) and Turvey Park – and averaged just six goals a game against top five teams. The average losing margin in the 10 games against finals-bound teams was almost 50 points. There were two heavy losses to Mangoplah including an embarrassing 146-point loss in round 14, followed up by a 10-goal loss to the team they’d hoped to displace from the top five, GGGM, and finished the season with an 89-point loss to eventual premiers Collingullie.

For a club starved of finals opportunities for nearly a decade, the failure to finish in the top five hurt, again. “Not playing finals was obviously a big disappointment. We’d identified it was something we wanted to achieve but we didn’t get there. We learnt a lesson along the way,” Harris says, labelling inconsistency within games as a key factor in their performances.

Surprise Packet:

Tom West (who leaves for university this year) was Griffith’s nominee as Telstra Rising Star but Kieran Hume is the name that springs to mind for Matthews when asked who surprised him.

“He won our Most Improved award and he was one who if you had said at the start of the year that he’d play a half a season of seniors, I’m sure he would’ve disagreed. But he was great for us. It probably comes back to the same old thing – he did the work. Looking back, it probably doesn’t surprise how he went ’cause he worked so hard, but when you just look at where he came from…”

Also worth noting is Tim Mathieson as best and fairest. “For those around the club, it was no surprise,” says Matthews. “He was really good for us. He’s a local junior too, which is good.”

Harris says Mathieson’s performance signifies where the club is at. “Tim was probably the one that took the next step as a senior footballer… he’s a perfect example of that group of players at the club that have a lot of upside, but just need a bit more support than they have had the last couple of years.”

Areas to Improve:

Sometimes, you just look at the top sides to assess where you’re at. The Swans were well beaten by the Goannas twice, and Collingullie in the last round. But even the first time they played the Demons – round nine, when they were competitive for most of the game before going down by three goals – there were stark lessons.

“Collingullie, the way they’ve played the past few years, they know exactly what they’ve got to do, all 22. I think our guys realised after we played them at home that player for player there might be a bit of difference but they just worked so much harder to help each other out.

“The good sides are really worried about helping their mates get a kick, not just getting one themselves. When our blokes are doing that, we can match it with the top sides.

“Versatility is the key to the RFL I think. They’ve got a lot of good players, Gullie, and they were that well drilled.”

Griffith needs to improve across the board, and the loss of Guy Orton is no insignificant event. The club felt it had a duty to ensure the promising footballers at the club are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential. “Obviously with the recruiting, we look to do that for the sake of those guys – we’ve got a really good group in the 20-25 year old age bracket and they just need a bit of support to help them develop,” says Harris. “At country footy clubs you need to identify who you can learn from. Those guys [we’ve recruited] have all played a fairly high level of football and bring that experience.”

What to Look Forward To:

There’s a sense of excitement at the Swans heading into 2015 particularly in seeing youngsters take the next step in a team that will be better balanced. There’ll be opportunities to learn from the recruits, and competition for spots. Matthews says that’s the key to success in any football club and it starts in the pre-season. “As a coach you see who’s prepared to push themselves the hardest to get a game. There’s always some who will always get a game on natural ability but there are other blokes who will find a way to get the job done in the pre-season just to get their name up for a game. You’ve got to be picking your senior side from 25 or 30 players.”

With excitement comes expectation. Harris is looking forward to seeing how Griffith’s generation-next develops in 2015 but he knows their recruits hold the key to improvement.

“The three Canberra guys will balance us up through the middle and provide a bit of flexibility there. We’ve still got Michael Griffiths our ruckman sticking around too. We shouldn’t have to be shuffling players around. It’s difficult when you’re not running too deep on your list [like last season]. We’ll have key position players, and utility players around the flanks — like Che Jenkins back [who played only one game last year due to injury] for leadership off a halfback flank.”

Matthews has the job of getting the best out of them, but he also has Tom Groves alongside as assistant. From the president down, they’re rapt to welcome back a local junior who’s returned to the family farm near Coleambally, and brings plenty of football nous. “Tom coming out of the VFL and having been involved as forwards coach there at Coburg – he’ll bring a whole lot of knowledge to the table in terms of structures and how we set up,” says Harris.

Groves played little football last season due to a broken foot but that gave him time to concentrate on his coaching. “He’s really, really keen to get into that side of it. He just loves footy and has a good footy brain,” says Matthews. “He’ll probably play centre halfback. He’s played most of his footy on a halfback flank actually but he could play anywhere in this competition. He’s a tall rangy type of player and he could fit in in the midfield, half forward or any key position.”

Matthews says having Josh Hamilton fulltime is a real coup, after he was seen on only five occasions last year when travelling for work. “Having him every week, he’ll be like a new recruit. He’s an O&M rep who was just coming through when I was getting to the end of my time at Lavington. He’s a terrific guy and no-one’s seen what he can do yet… He wasn’t training last year, he didn’t get to spend a lot of time around the team, and the travel affects you. I’ve seen him in full flight. What he can bring, training fulltime, and not travelling back to Queensland, he’s just a quality player. He’s really athletic for his size and he’s the sort of player who can play ruck or play on a wing…”

The coach is also expecting plenty from the Canberra trio. Griggs and King he describes as genuine midfielders, noting that “Griggs is a jet”. Sam Daniel offers some versatility. “He’s a bit taller. He’s played midfield but he’s a bit of a wingman, half-forward type.”

The Swans still haven’t finished with recruitment, saying two more players are set to sign in the next week or two.