FARRER FILES: MARRAR BOMBERS

  

  

2015 Finish:   6th
Home & Away:   8 wins; 8 losses
Club Best & Fairest:    Matt Molkentin
Rising Star:    Dean Wallace

Snapshot: 
The Bombers have flown under the radar a little in what’s been a hectic build-up to 2016 at many of their Farrer League rivals. But the subtle changes could be significant: the promotion of Matt Molkentin to coach, and the arrival of his younger brother, ruckman Nick, from Lavington, along with midfielder Jason Reid from Temora.
There’s an enthusiasm around the club with players training since well before Christmas, and Molkentin is projecting an air of confidence in the squad he’s taken charge of… virtually daring rivals to write them off at their peril.
“We’ve got a good group here and a lot of young fellas as well, which is good. So there’s plenty of development there,” Molkentin said.
“There’s a few other clubs picking up but I think on our day we’ll be able to mix it with the best of them and hopefully go deep into September, so we’re definitely looking forward to it.”
Encouragingly for Marrar, the departures have been kept to a minimum. Last year’s coach, Nic Casey, had his playing career all-but ended by a knee injury and the Bombers’ desire for an on-field coach led to Molkentin’s appointment. Josh O’Callaghan has headed to Sydney along with Billy Jury and Jordan Ryder.
It’s uncertain whether Brad Langtry will return. He’s focussing on training for an ultra marathon in May after which the club hopes he can be convinced into travelling back from Melbourne for games.
But Brad Turner was among the keen group of pre-Christmas trainers while the likes of Hagar, Moye and the Cunninghams are also back in 2016.
Missing the finals last season hurt. The game that cost them their spot in the five – against North Wagga in the final round – told the story of their season though. The Bombers were exposed for a lack of options up forward but they made North Wagga work for their win. Marrar can take heart in knowing that the Saints subsequently pushed the top sides, The Rock-Yerong Creek and East Wagga-Kooringal.

2015 Highlights: 
In a frustrating season for the Bombers’ faithful the performance of Molkentin was a bright spot. Signed as a forward, he switched to the ruck mid-season when the loss of Nathan Smith due to work commitments left a big hole in the middle for Marrar. Molkentin – who said himself there wasn’t much point playing forward if the ball wasn’t coming down – threw himself into the role well enough that he won the club’s best-and-fairest award, and was runner-up in the league medal.
And the ever consistent Clint Taylor showed why he’s a favourite son. Restricted to 11 games, the former coach was named in the team’s best on 10 occasions. In the last game of the year, he got himself on the end of more kicks into North Wagga’s forward 50 than half of the Saints’ forward line combined.
As for team performances, it was still early in the season when Marrar pulled out a big fourth-quarter performance to beat The Rock-Yerong Creek under lights at Robertson Oval on the eve of Anzac Day…. the sort of result to inspire hope for the year ahead.
“That was a big one to get up for,” Molkentin says.
“We gave them a bit of a start but we managed to fight our way back and I suppose showed a fair bit of character. And we thought that might have been a turning point for our year.”
With wins against CSU and Barellan in subsequent weeks, Marrar were equal second on the ladder after six rounds but the momentum couldn’t be maintained. As the season wore on, a lack of firepower meant they were resigned to trying to grind out wins rather than open up an opposition.
But there were efforts of note and performances that suggested they might’ve been just a key player or two short of where they’d hoped to be. The TRYC had been stung by that loss at Robertson Oval believing they’d thrown it away by easing off. However, in the return match at The Rock, Marrar’s commitment was shown again when they came close to another upset. It was only a masterclass in sharpshooting from Andy Carey, kicking eight of his team’s nine goals, that kept the Bombers at bay.

2015 Lowlights:  
After giving the finals a shake in 2014, it stung even more for Marrar to miss out altogether last season.
Molkentin acknowledged the expectation as soon he was announced as coach.
“As a club that hurt, being a small community, and the Marrar faithful weren’t too happy with that, so we want to get back up there for them,” he said.
Injuries to players with key roles meant it was always going to be difficult. Brad Turner played just four games while Nic Casey was also restricted to less than a handful of appearances. Bryce Graetz didn’t play after round 12; Clint Taylor played only 11 games; Brad Langtry was only available for seven matches and Graham Reid didn’t play at all.
But Molkentin doesn’t make excuses for the things they could control.
“I think consistency was the most disappointing thing out of last year,” he said.
“We beat the top five sides except East Wagga. On our day we could really play some good footy and we were pretty damaging and then the next week we’d be disappointing. I think a lot of that come down to injuries as well though – I don’t think we had the same team for two weeks in a row until towards the end. We were making four or five changes a week which isn’t ideal.”

Surprise Packet:  
Molkentin is looking for a big season from Josh Hanlon after being rapt in his efforts in 2015, when he was named in the team’s best nine times in his 13 games.
“I think he was a bit of a surprise packet for us. He came runner-up in the best and fairest.
“Playing off the halfback flank, he just gave us a lot of drive. He took the game on and broke the lines and backed himself every time. He had a real standout season I think so hopefully we can get the same out of him and a few others as well.”

Areas to improve:  
At their best last year, they may not have been too far away from many of the finalists, but the Bombers know there’s no room for teams standing still.
Consistency is obviously going to be a big focus for the new coach and the December start to pre-season indicates the players are keen to line up behind Molkentin.
“A few of the boys were getting itchy feet so we thought we’d call it and it’s been pretty good. For most of the pre-season we’ll be doing a lot of hard gut-running and basic skills, just to get that touch.
The new coach, who led his home town of Tumbarumba to a flag in 2012, said he’s also placing a big emphasis on players working for each other and with each other. With three seasons at both Wagga Tigers and Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes (with a year at Marrar in between, in 2007), Molkentin has plenty of experience to draw on and wants to see the skill level lift.
“I think we let ourselves down a bit last year with our touch.”

What to look forward to in 2016:
Brad Turner in full stride at pre-season training is a sight for sore eyes at the Bombers, and the prospect of him being fit and hopeful of a full season is a mouth-watering one.
“As soon as I signed I rang him and made sure he’s 100 percent,” Molkentin said.
“He said the shoulder’s the best it’s been in a couple of years and he’s ready. He’s been a big part of this side and he’s a big part of our side looking into the future.”
If he’s the familiar face, then Nick Molkentin is the new blood, fresh off a couple of seasons in the O&M. He played a handful of senior games with Lavington, won a reserve grade grand final and also has premiership experience with Tumbarumba, where he won two flags.
A new starting ruckman is a serious boost to the Bombers, with Matt freed up to return to the forward line and giving the pair the option to rotate in the roles.
Jason Reid adds to the Temora flavour at the club joining former Roos Josh Hagar and Jackson Moye in red and black.
And Molkentin is looking forward to getting some improvement out of the players who were there last season.
“I took on the job knowing what we had and I was happy with the core group of players… I think we’ve still got the cattle to go pretty deep this year.
“There’s a lot of talented kids and developing players who are ready for their breakout season I suppose, so just sort of developing the core group we’ve got and a lot of the juniors that we’ve got, that’s the most exciting thing.”