RIVERINA FILES: NARRANDERA

NARRANDERA

2015 Finish: 8th

Home & Away: 3 wins; 13 losses

Club Best & Fairest: Damon Burden

Best first year player: Michael Cummins

Telstra Rising Star: Michael Cummins

Snapshot:

In an extremely tight RFL competition, the Eagles dragged themselves up from ninth to eighth but at various times during the season looked like they wouldn’t have been out of place among the finalists.

They were strong early but didn’t get the wins on the board to show for it. Even late in the year the Eagles showed what they were capable of when they tested Wagga Tigers in the middle of their half-a-season winning streak but ultimately took the points only against Turvey Park (twice) and Collingullie-GP.

Tim Sullivan again takes the helm, but with a host of players not returning in 2016, they might be starting from behind the advantage line again. Much will depend on who they can attract to Narrandera, as the club looks to move players to town rather than signing recruits who travel over to play, but that’s contingent upon employment prospects.

“We’re looking for good blokes and good footballers who can be real leaders around our club, including at training,” Sullivan said.

There’s also a focus on trying to ensure juniors make the transition to the senior club although with study and employment options often the reason for a drop-off in numbers of older teenagers the club acknowledges its influence in that area is limited.

The club said it doesn’t have the finances of many of its rivals so a major focus will have to be on getting improvement out of players in their early 20s, now with a couple of seasons of seniors behind them.

Highlights:

The beginning of the year was bright enough for Narrandera as they looked to lift themselves off the bottom of the ladder. With the return of James Sullivan and Lachie Hunter, and the recruitment of a handful of players travelling from Canberra, the Eagles looked threatening.

Although beaten in round one by GGGM, the game was only lost in a second quarter lapse. A week later they let a halftime lead slip against Griffith, then lost by a point to Coolamon in round three after wayward kicking. In round four they managed to put it together to beat the reigning premiers – and eventual champions again, Collingullie-GP.

Coach Tim Sullivan was excited about their prospects and now rues not being able to build momentum.

“The start of the year, it was looking good,” Sullivan said.

“We lost a couple of early ones which were tight which probably could’ve set us up for the season.

“But it was good to get some older people around the club, some experienced bodies.

“Probably even moving off the bottom of the ladder, that was a highlight in itself even though we’d hoped to win a few more games.”

Even without the results they were after, Sullivan said there was benefit for the younger players in learning from their teammates, and even learning from the experience of being in tight games against quality opposition.

Damon Burden was the club’s best and fairest, despite an injury setback. He and Lachie Hunter were instrumental early. Even with just one win in their first five games, the pair were tied for 5th in the player of the year award.

The presence of highly-rated draft prospect, Matt Flynn, was limited due to Rams and GWS Giants commitments but seeing him at all in what’s likely to be his last season locally for some time will remain a highlight for Sullivan.

“When Matty Flynn played just seeing his development and some of the younger guys develop a bit more again and step up again.

“Like Shaun Quilter, whose father is a life member of the club, seeing him starting to get some confidence in himself and take that next step with his football.

“The positives were seeing those young guys and Luke Pattison develop.”

Lowlights:

If the start of the season was a highlight for what it promised in potential, it was also a disappointment when more wins weren’t delivered. Instead of getting on a roll early, it meant the Eagles were always chasing and when the injuries hit, they were particularly vulnerable.

“Not winning the games which could’ve really set the season up (was the lowlight),” Sullivan said.

“I look at the Coolamon game (in round three) – we lost by a point and we had 11 or so more scoring shots. That could’ve swung momentum for us early in the year. Or like losing to Griffith over there – we had a lot of ball but didn’t capitalise, didn’t take the opportunities when they were there.”

So when they got the job done against Gullie after those two losses, they were finally on the board but it was hard to shake the feeling they shouldn’t have been three from four. Even after five rounds, three wins would’ve had them in the top five.

And injuries.

Even three months after the end of the season, they seem to haunt Sullivan as he recalls them off the top of his head:

“Adam Sangston, ACL. We had Alex Lawder, ankle. Anton Francia done his ankle, Mitch Staite, Lachie and myself with broken ribs, Jonathon Doyle had hamstring injuries, Damon broke his hand…

“Key players hurt themselves and they weren’t one-week injuries. They were more five to six weeks and that was quite frustrating. That sort of stop-started the year and it was over before we could get momentum.

“I know everyone has injuries but it was always two out, one in or two in, one out, so it was hard to get that consistency,” Sullivan lamented.

Shaun Light also pulled up stumps on the season early, decided he’d had enough of playing footy at that time.

Surprise Packet:

Michael Cummins was the impressive rookie, his efforts recognised when he was named the club’s rising star nominee and best first-year player.

But for surprise packets, Sullivan nominated Luke Paterson and Shaun Quilter.

“They stood up. They put in the hard work early on in the pre-season and it shone through,’ said Sullivan.

“They were quality junior footballers at the club and like all young fellas they like to go out and enjoy themselves but they took their footy to the next step, becoming senior players in the team.

“Luke especially was our most consistent. He’s probably one of the premier fullbacks in the league, the amount of ball he stopped.”

Areas to improve:

The Eagles will have some holes to fill with Shaun Light heading to Coleambally and Mitch Stait, Mitch Gorman, Adam Sangsten, Alex Lawder and Anton Francia also not returning for 2016.

The focus is on finding a strong forward and a quality midfielder. The club believes its backline stands up well against the competition but said even end-of-year reviews by players pointed to a need for some quality in the middle and up forward.

“We want to get someone who is able to kick 50 or so goals… a key forward or a really good small forward,” Sullivan said.

“We lack that target, big or small, who can kick three goals a game consistently, or take defenders away and open up someone else.

“Another thing is another quality on-baller, someone that gives us that grunt. That’s come back from all our players, too.”

Sullivan also wants to see the emerging players stamp themselves as prominent first graders.

“We’ve got a group of guys who have been together for a while and it’s time to step up… see the boys get belief that they’re good enough to win a few games of footy.”

Ensuring as many of the club’s juniors as possible flow through to senior football is a priority, and the Eagles are also doing their best to open the club up to the broader community, including starting their own touch competition to try to interact with people from outside the AFL community. They’re keen to ensure the club is offering an environment that the whole town wants to be a part of and get behind.

What to look forward to:

With some lingering disappointment about not seeing as great an improvement in results this year as he’d expected, Sullivan is also hoping 2016 is something of a fresh start for the club.

“We’re really going to go head-down, bum-up.”

He points out there’s a long way to go in the recruiting stakes but if they can secure the additions to their forward line and midfield, they’ll be in a lot better shape. The club has also indicated a preference to move away from ‘travelling recruits’ out of Canberra and are instead aiming to attract players to town from other areas.

Sullivan said there’s also an air of expectation that those players who have now had a season or two of senior experience will help lead the way.

“We’ve got a few guys now who are 22 to 25 and I’m excited to see how they step up to the challenge… to show they understand the game of football and not have to be shown; taking ownership of their own game, and being a real part of the club.”

As for ambition, well there’s no point pretending you’re not in it to win it.

“Hopefully we can really push the other RFL clubs, get up into finals and hopefully get to the grand final,” Sullivan said.

“Ultimately, if you’re not striving for that, you’re not there for the right reasons.”