RIVERINA FILES: WAGGA TIGERS

2015 Result:   3rd (finished 2nd on ladder but knocked out in preliminary final)
Home and Away:   12 wins, 4 losses
Finals Form:  Won qualifying final against Leeton-Whitton
                    Lost major semi-final to Mangoplah-CUE
                    Lost preliminary final to Collingullie-GP
Club Best & Fairest:    Shaun Flanigan
Best First Year Player:  Lachlan Myers
Rising Star:    Brady Morton

Snapshot:  
So close, and yet so far pretty well summed up Tigers’ season.  There was no shame in a narrow preliminary final exit at the hands of the team that would go on to win another flag. But the loss to Collingullie-Glenfield Park at Robertson Oval still hurt like hell. And a week later when the Demons ran roughshod over Mangoplah-CUE, some observers thought maybe Tigers deserved to play Gullie on the grand final stage, given the intensity of their encounter a week earlier.
But they’d had the two chances to control that destiny. Finishing second on the ladder, they beat Leeton-Whitton in the first week of finals, but missed out on taking a shortcut to the grand final when overrun by Mango in the second half of the major-semi. They’d beaten the Goannas in both home-and-away meetings during the year.
Still, there appears plenty of upside to the young Tigers heading into next year. Harnessing that is the job of a new, young leader in midfielder Shaun Campbell. Appointed coach for 2016 ahead of the incumbent, Matt Rava – who took Tigers to the last two finals series, and on a nine-game winning streak in the back half of 2015 – Campbell has brought in three ex-Ainslie teammates. Dale Walker, Rob Tuohey and Sean Ellis bring NEAFL experience to a young and keen team and will travel to Wagga to play under Campbell, who comes to Wagga after a league-medal winning season in Victoria’s Central Highlands Football League. The quartet promise to inject some steel into Tigers to support their talented young list.
But there are some departures too:  after being let go as coach, Rava has moved on (to Hume League club, Osborne); his assistant coach, John Anstee, is likely to be unavailable for much of the season due to study commitments; Angus Durnan and Xavier Brennan won’t be around; and some of their talented youngsters are likely to be unavailable due to representative commitments.

Highlights: 
The winning streak. Tigers had four losses in the home-and-away season and all were in the first half of the year.  A loss to Griffith in round nine saw them turn for home in equal fifth, and Matt Rava asked plenty of questions of his players. They responded, going all the way to the second week of finals without dropping another game.
“It showed the growth the boys gained,” 2015 assistant coach, John Anstee, said.
“You win a couple and you feel you’re going in the right direction, then you keep winning and the buzz around training and getting to the games – playing with each other and playing some of our better footy – that’s what you play for.”
The difference between Rava’s first and second year in charge was the maturing of his young list into a team that learnt how to win the tight games.
Anstee said it came down to reducing the frequency of their lapses during games. And, despite the hurt of two finals losses to the grand finalists, overall it was a good season for the club.
“I’d consider it a positive year for our boys, gaining a lot of belief out of the games we won. We’re definitely going into next year knowing that we can match it with every team in the league now,” he said.
“Personally, going into that assistant coaching role, watching the development of the younger fellas and them growing, that stood out for me this year.”
It was that improvement season-on-season that also impressed club president, Scott Bance, who believes the club is in great shape.
“The most pleasing thing – which came out of our club interviews at the end of the year – was that of the 21 we had playing in some games, 18 were Tigers juniors. That was great, there’s not too many clubs around that can boast that in their senior line-up I don’t think,” Bance said.
“There’s a great feel at the club, that’s the overriding thing. It’s a good place and there’s a good mix of footballers and netballers around.”

Lowlights:  
Missing out on a grand final appearance hurts most. It was one thing for independent observers to watch the grand final and wonder whether Tigers didn’t deserve to be on the big stage. So it can’t have been easy for their players.
“Definitely – coming so close against Gullie and then seeing them take on Mango knowing that if we played our best against Mango we could’ve been there. Or if a couple of things went our way against Gullie, we could’ve been in a different position,” Anstee said.
“It was pretty tough watching on. That’s definitely the disappointment that stands out in the year.
“After getting the top three spot we aimed for and getting the second chance… not being there on the last day was definitely not ideal.”
The four-point preliminary final loss ranks highly in disappointment for Tigers. But on reflection there was plenty of pride in the way they played against a Demons outfit hitting its straps at the right time.
“They put everything on the line in that game,” Bance said.
“They fought right to the end and we were really proud of them. They were gutted they didn’t go any further but you’ve got to learn that on the way up, I suppose, and hopefully you can keep improving on it.”
Surprise Packet:  
For most around the club, the most pleasing aspect was how far their young players have come in a couple of seasons.
“I suppose it was the overall development of our kids,” Bance said.
“A guy like Brady Morton really stood up and started to play some good, hard, senior footy but it was just encouraging to see the development in them all.”
Anstee agrees, adding that Dylan Morton, Lachie Myers and Freddie Lovell were others who spring to mind for exceeding expectations. But in terms of pleasant surprises, he was most pleased for the man who kicked 56 goals in the regular season and another eight in three finals.
“Seeing John Buchanan come out and have the leading goalkicker for the year and making the RFL side – I was so excited for him to achieve those two things,” Anstee said.
“He worked really hard over the off season and the rewards showed on the field, kicking those goals.”

Areas to improve:  
Anstee said Tigers did plenty of work on reducing the lapses in their games, but ultimately not quite enough.
“Sometimes we’d just lose that momentum and they (the opposition) would build a few goals in a row. We worked on being able to control that on the field rather than waiting for half time or quarter time for the coach to recorrect things… it was an area we began to improve, and we reduced the frequency of those lapses, but it’s definitely one area we can improve, getting that consistency.”
New coach Shaun Campbell is starting with a pre-Christmas pre-season and makes no secret of what he wants from Tigers.
“Just working on getting them fit. Speed kills as far as I’m concerned.” Campbell said.
“Even though they are really young and pretty fit, we need to be able to run all day. Being littler, if we can run all day we’’ be able to run these bigger bodies off their legs which I think is what they did last year.”
He also wants his players to stand up for themselves, and let the rest of the competition know they belong in the top echelon.
“I want to be a really hard team. Although they’re kids and Tigers might not have had that hardness about them – that’s about to change,” Campbell said.

What to look forward to: 
Tigers didn’t go looking for travelling recruits, according to Bance, but having three players with NEAFL experience who wanted to play under their old Ainslie teammates is a huge bonus for a young team.
“There’s a real excitement around the club having some quality recruits to come in and complement what we’ve got,” Bance said.
Campbell is counting on those three to not only teach but also look after their young teammates. He’s promised to change a perception that Tigers didn’t always stand up for themselves, or stamp their authority.
“Teams will play against Tigers a bit different next year,” he warned.
In the likely absence of John Anstee for much of the year, Rob Tuohey will lead their backline.
“He’ll bring a heap of experience – he was Ainslie captain for three or four years. He’s a mature head down back to steer the boys around… He’s a good centre half back, but just his leadership and coaching.”
Campbell said Ellis is a tough in-and-under midfielder who can go forward and kick goals, and he’s effusive in his praise of Dale Walker.
“He’s your pick of the bunch. He was in the team of the year half a dozen times up in Canberra. He’s quick, agile, he’s 6’3 or 6’4 and he can play anywhere.”
But Campbell’s most excited about the opportunity to coach a team on the rise and sounds as though he’ll pick up where Rava left off in terms of playing style.
“I’ve always wanted to coach and I couldn’t help but jump at the chance. I just love the young playing group – blokes full of enthusiasm and keen to get amongst it.
“We’re going to play a pretty quick brand of footy, with the speed of the young fellas. Just a go, go, go type of footy.”