RIVERINA FILES: GGGM LIONS

  

GANMAIN-GGM
2015 Finish:   6th
Home and Away:   8 wins, 1 draw, 7 losses
Club Best & Fairest:    Nathan McPherson
Rising Star:    Tom Quinn

Snapshot: Change is in the air at Ganmain-Grong Grong Matong, with Jayden Kotzur’s boots to be filled by a first-year coach who’s a Lawton in all but name. Luke Sicker said he knows all about the club and the expectations of success from his uncles Jed, John and Scott, and is excited to be given the opportunity to lead the club.
Captain Lachie Steward joins the coaching staff, to work as Sicker’s assistant, and there’s a sense that the season can’t come soon enough to erase the disappointment of last year.
Kotzur’s third and final season with the Lions was one of frustration, as the club paid the price for dropping too many games early in the season and not quite closing out others later in the year. They ended up finishing just two points outside the five – half a win behind eventual premiers Collingullie-GP – and had given every indication they might cause some havoc if they’d made the finals.
Sicker will be without the experience of the departed Kotzur, who’s moved to Albury and will play in the Tallangatta League with Thurgoona, and the retiring Nathan McPherson but the return of ruckman Jacob Olsson is a huge gain for the Lions.

Highlights: The reaction to the Lions’ season of 2015 was made clear when new assistant Steward was asked about the highlights of the year and he struggled to think of any because they were overshadowed by disappointment in how the year panned out.
“There weren’t that many highlights – there was a small step forward in the social side of the club but the footy was pretty dismal,” Steward said. “We were a bit lazy at times, which cost us games, and we had a few things that didn’t go in our favour. Hopefully we can go a bit better next year.”
Having said that, there were some, including the consistent performances of Ben Walsh and Nathan McPherson.
“You’re always getting something out of them, pushing the side forward,” Steward said.
Many around the club had tipped Walsh would be named the club’s best and fairest, but he was outdone.
“Poke (McPherson) probably got our best and fairest because of the way he plays his footy. He might make 16 tackles a game,” Steward said.
Kotzur too gave the club a Jim Quinn Medal to celebrate – in fact, a League Medal double with wife Katie winning the A-Grade netball award as well.
And there were some noteworthy performances including wins over both of the grand finalists, MCUE and Collingullie-GP, in the second half of the season.

Lowlights: Some of those strong games against top sides only served to highlight the lowlight of the Lions’ season… failing to play finals.
“Knowing we had the potential to be better than we were and falling short,” is how Steward puts it.
“Probably when we had the chance to make the finals, we kicked ourselves out of the game. We had ample opportunity to put games away and we just didn’t do it.
A loss to Tigers in their second last game of the year consigned Ganmain to missing out on the five but they were ruing terrible inaccuracy, with 22 scoring shots to 16. The Lions kicked 2.12 in the first three quarters and by the time they stormed home with a five-goal final quarter – putting a fright into the competition’s hottest team at that time – it was all too late.
Key recruit Matt White was good in patches but didn’t quite deliver on the expectation around his signing, and Jimbo Lawton was an absolute star on some occasion but wasn’t able to impose himself on every game.

Surprise Packet: The versatile Tom Quinn was the club’s nominated Rising Star and the pick of their emerging players. The shame is that he is unlikely to be around in 2016 when he moves away for university. His versatility was handy and his composure at the contest and skill in hitting targets on either side of his body impressed the Lions.
Steward also points out Tom Anderson (“he could be a bit of a little star) and Sam Hatty (“if he can get a full year on the track, he’ll be as good as anyone”) as players who started to show their potential.

Areas to improve: Consistency is going to need to improve if the Lions are to measure up in 2016 and Sicker has a straightforward approach as to how he’s going to start.
“We’ll be all about hard work and hard running, doing the basics and going from there,” he said.
“We’re a pretty young side from what I can gather and that’s what I’ll be looking to bring, that hardness.”
Fitness will obviously be a pre-season focus when Sicker moves here in the new year. He’s spending a bit of time on the road before then, making trips to town to get a handle on how his team is shaping up.
He takes heart from the fact they weren’t far away last year, but Sicker wants the Lions to be able to match the top sides for run.
And he and his assistant sound like they’re on the same page for starting points.
“Definitely hardness and run… Gut-running and hardness and the rest will work itself out. It’s only country footy,” Steward said.

What to look forward to: The return of Jacob Olsson is generating plenty of excitement around Ganmain while the appointment of a player from outside the league as coach will ensure there’s plenty of enthusiasm.
There’s no doubting the new leader’s excitement about the opportunity.
“Yeah, bloody oath, I’m rapt,” Sicker said.
Sicker will bear watching as a player too. The midfielder comes highly rated, having played in three straight grand finals in the Sunraysia League with Mildura club, Imperials, which he helped lift from the wooden spoon to the premiership three years ago.
Just discussing the stint at Mildura hints at Sicker’s hunger for success… he speaks less about that flag or the feat of making three grand finals in a row, and much more about the pain of losing the last two.
He’s confident he can get the best out of his big cousin, Jimbo Lawton.
“He’ll be one that I’ll definitely be looking at for a big year,” Sicker said. “He’ll be mostly playing forward and I’ve indicated I want a really big year out of him.”
Olsson’s return after two years away will give the Lions a huge presence in the ruck and is the sort of signing that injects confidence into a squad.
“Having the potential to go all the way – that’s always a positive,” said Steward. “You know if you’ve got a side that’s going to struggle to go all the way, or a side that’s going to be competitive. So it’s pretty exciting to know you’ve got a team that can do something.”