RIVERINA FILES: MCUE GOANNAS
2014 Finish: Runners-up
Home & Away: 13 wins; 3 losses.
Finals Form: Won qualifying final against Coolamon.
Won major semi-final against Collingullie.
Bye
Lost grand final to Collingullie.
Club Best & Fairest: Colin Sanbrook
Best First Year Player: Ethan Schiller
Telstra Rising Star: Jock Cornell
Snapshot:
So close, and yet it probably felt so far for Mangoplah once it got away. The 2014 season was all about Collingullie – until the finals when, for three weeks and almost half a grand final, it was all about Mango.
But the fairytale finish went to Shane Lenon, not Nathon Irvin.
Nevertheless, Irvin can look back with pride on his three years at the club which culminated in the Goannas claiming the club championship… their strength across the board obvious with all three football grades making the grand final and all four netball grades playing finals; the top two grades going on to claim.
If Julie Cornell deserves much of the credit for improving netball at the Goannas (including back-to-back A-grade titles), then there’s plenty of interest in brother, Chris Daniher, heading up the football coaching in 2015.
The Essendon premiership player is at pains to point out that he’s one of a team, with club stalwart Trevor Ion his co-coach, and Travis and Trent Cohalan assistant coaches. Ion and Daniher renew a partnership, having coached the club’s under 17s two years ago, while the Cohalans take on extra responsibility at the club, with Travis still coaching reserve grade while Trent was first grade captain last year.
Sharing the coaching workload is the only way it can work for Daniher. “I’m not there fulltime, I’m on the farm out the other side of West Wyalong. I’ll be there Thursday nights but the Cohalan boys and Trevor, they’ve been terrific. They’re doing a lot of the phone calls, chasing up players, and already they’ve made my job a lot easier.”
There may be four on the staff but Ion says there’s one boss. “We’re there to give him a hand but ultimately everyone will be listening to Chris.”
Trent Cohalan says Daniher is a coup. “We’ve been fortunate with the level of coaches we’ve had, like Nathon with his AFL experience and now Chris. Chris’s mind works a little different so it’ll be a different voice, a few fresh ideas and a bit of a different game plan. There won’t be too many changes but he just seems to see things that other people don’t see. I know that already just from talking to him about games last year.
“You hang on every word he says because of his experience and what he’s done in the game… and he could probably still be doing it now if he wanted to.”
The soon-to-be-49-year old Daniher, who played 124 games for the Bombers, has ruled out pulling on the boots again in the RFL.
“Definitely non-playing coach,” he says with a chuckle. “There’s a lot of good young talent there, and they need games of footy. It’s still a very young list, it’s about developing those young players. Having been around the club the last three or four years, I’m looking forward to working with them.”
The club will be without some of its brightest prospects in Hunter Lloyd (North Albury), Harry Himmelberg (Eastlake) and James Creasy (EWK). And one of the most talented players in the league, Mitch Daniher, may yet be lost to NEAFL club Eastlake.
“We’re waiting to see on Mitch,” says his uncle. “He’s weighing up a pretty good offer there in Canberra (from Eastlake). So we’re leaving him to make up his mind, and hopefully he’ll do that shortly.”
But Melbourne-based pair Col Sanbrook (the Graincorp Player of the Year last year) and Andrew Pettigrove have committed to the long commute again this year. Daniher says MCUE are extremely lucky – and thankful – to have their services for a second season.
Their experience will be crucial in their second season with the club. There have been no signings announced– although Jack Killalea returns after a season away and Ryan Price should also be back from overseas mid-year.
Highlights:
Two netball premierships for starters. And five teams out of seven contesting grand finals is an exceptional effort for a club. As much as the grand final loss hurts, Irvin says the club championship was reward for the bigger picture effort at MCUE.
“I think the highlight was just seeing the whole club come together. We had a lot of people helping, a lot of families, and we got a lot done in terms of infrastructure, grandstand, scoreboard, clubrooms. It wasn’t just a few people. The big thing was just how many people wanted to be involved and were enjoying themselves. I thought that was awesome. And at the end of the day, that’s what makes and breaks a club.”
Ion, who has been on the committee, says MCUE has focussed on creating a stable club, improving facilities and building for the future. “The goal is to make it a family orientated footy club – juniors, netball, football, and on occasions have it all on the same day. That’s the vision for the footy club as a whole. I was part of the club back in the 70s and 80s and we had a fair bit of success those years. The foundations are there and we’re starting to build to try to get back to that.”
As at many clubs, the on-field highlight was the improvement in their younger brigade. And that culminated in a sensational finals series. “For us to come into finals and have two pretty big comebacks in the first two first finals, against really quality opposition, that was really pleasing,” says Irvin. The problem with recalling the finals series is that questions about the decider come back, and he sounds as though he’s thinking out loud suddenly… “Maybe they made us get a bit of ahead of ourselves… Maybe? But looking back, they were really good performances under pressure and we put ourselves in a position to have the week’s break and give ourselves the best possible chance.”
It would be rude not to mention the return of Daniher and Sanbrook to the Riverina. They provided plenty of highlights for teammates, fans and even opposition players on occasion. And for MCUE supporters, it was a chance to see just what sort of a footballer club junior Sanbrook has developed into.
Lowlights:
For anyone but the Goannas, the grand final was a cracker. For the defeated though, the pain takes a long time to fade. Particularly in a game that came down to just a few key moments. “That’s footy,” says Irvin. “These days it’s not about whether you’re up one day or the next… it’s one quarter to the next, or one minute to the next. The ebb and flow of the game is so quick. We did it to other sides in the finals.
“And Collingullie had that motivation that you really need.”
The coach still anguishes over selection decisions, particularly after Demons midfielder Matt Beckmans turned in a best-on-ground performance, taking the game away from MCUE in the second half.
Ion agrees with Irvin that Collingullie’s pain of grand finals lost was a major factor, and thought the game turned on a few key incidents – allowing the Demons to fight their way back from a five-goal deficit. “It can happen in any game but there was just a goal Collingullie kicked after we made a mistake on a kick-out. That triggered a run for Collingullie. It was that incident that changed the momentum a bit. Then to Collingullie’s credit – them having been runners-up the last two years – I think you do get a bit more fire in the belly out of that. To our guys it was all new.”
Surprise Packet:
For Chris Daniher, one of the real surprise packets is one who’s got away… Hunter Lloyd’s development throughout the year was still a highlight for the incoming coach. Daniher wishes him well in Albury, saying he just enjoys the thrill of being associated with a footballer who finds his feet in first grade. “To see him improve from the 17s to the centre half back that he’s become in senior footy, that happened pretty quickly. That’s the fun of coaching… to watch him improve, that was great.”
When Irvin looks back on 2014, his mind also goes to the backline – 17-year old Matt Collins who, as early as mid-season, the then-coach rated the best fullback in the competition.
Paddy Griffin’s efforts at back pocket also earn high praise from the coach, while Ion noted the efforts of another teenager, Ethan Schiller .
Areas to improve:
Experience will be key for the Goannas. Technically, it’s probably not something you can improve… but as Daniher points out, it’s the only way to grow in confidence and general football nous, to improve your overall game.
But it has become a young man’s game, Daniher says. “I think the standard is definitely improving and the sides are probably getting younger… with the way the game’s played and the run, the kids are coming on at 16 and 17 and handling it. That’s the exciting thing at Mango with half a dozen or 10 kids coming through in that age group. But you need 20 or 30 or 40 games to start to feel settled and know what you’re doing so we just need to get those games into the young fellas.”
Ion says having one of Australia’s most famous footballing brothers leading the way is invaluable.
“Chris’ knowledge of the game is enormous and he’s going to be able to bring some very valuable experience into the footy club. Fitness will play a big role, and a bit of hardness, and going that extra bit. He speaks very well and his main strength is on the footy side… structures and team rules. We did 17s together and you can’t underestimate the importance of his knowledge and experience. And a lot of that is going to be even more suited to senior footy.”
Cohalan says the Goannas have recognised their movement out of defence needs work. “We moved the ball quick last year, but probably too many short kicks. Listenting to people from the sideline and even noticing myself, we broke down a lot moving the ball from defence up to the 50. I reckon we would have had a pretty ordinary conversion rate from defensive turnovers to inside 50s.” The 2014 captain says they’ll also play with a smaller forward line this year, while replacing Hunter Lloyd at the other end will also be crucial. “He was second in our best-and-fairest and he was just a rock back there. He’ll be hard to replace. We haven’t really lined anyone up on paper at the moment, it might be a bit of a suck it and see, but I think we’ve got the depth to cover him. We have Matt Collins as a great fullback — he could probably move up and play centre half back and we replace him. There’s also Isaac Damme, Dusty Rogers, Tommy Keogh – they could all possibly play centre half back so we’ve got a few options.”
What to look forward to:
There’s potential in the teenagers and there’s expectation around those players who now have two or three seasons of senior football experience. Cohalan says it’s exciting every year to see who makes the biggest improvement and – aware that many have RFL rivals have been active in recruitment – says the development of youth is crucial for Mango “It’s always exciting. It’s like you gain a couple of recruits with young kids who step up. We’ll go in with mostly our list from last year minus a couple but the improvement can be huge. Someone like Tommy Keogh last year, he really stepped up.”
“That’s the most enjoyable part really,” says Daniher. “It’s a good club and the Eastlakes juniors will be a big part of the future. This year there’s guys like Isaac Damme and Pat Killalea who I think will develop into solid leaders, along with blokes like Dusty [Rogers] and Andrew Dickins … there’s potentially a lot of room for improvement.”
Ion agrees, particularly regarding Rogers who was unlucky not to play first grade on grand final day. “He hasn’t played a lot, he only had about three years of footy before last year. He came from a soccer background on the coast, so he’s still learning the game. He’s so athletic, I could see real improvement in him.”
There’s also anticipation around the seasons Sanbrook and Pettigrove might produce now they’re familiar with the RFL. “We’re looking forward to seeing what the boys produce this year,” says Cohalan. “We know what Col’s capable of but they both said they didn’t play at their best last season, so they reckon there’s a bit of improvement to come. If Col can get any better, I’d like to see that!”
If there’s one experience the Goannas didn’t want, it’s learning what it feels like to lose on grand final day. While their old coach’s attention has turned to training for an Ironman Triathlon this year, that Saturday at Narrandera still plays on his mind. And he’s looking forward to seeing that pain drive his former teammates in 2015. “I think they’ll be hurting. You play a lot of footy but you’re lucky to play in grand finals… Once you get there, they’re just about 50/50 and you’ve got to put yourself in a position to give yourself the best chance of winning.”
Irvin is harsh in his assessment of his own game at Narrandera but says ultimately, “I think [the game] came down to want. And hopefully that’s something that Mango now have in their kit bag and will use if they get an opportunity.”
