RIVERINA FILES: MCUE GOANNAS

2015 Result:                Runners-up (finished regular season as minor premiers)
Home and Away:          12 wins, 4 losses
Finals Form:                 Won major semi-final against Wagga Tigers
                                   Lost grand final to Collingullie-GP

Club Best & Fairest:     Harry Collins
Rising Star:                 Jacob Whitley
 
Snapshot:
You can’t help but feel a sense of deja vu about the Goannas — for the second year running, they’re late to the party in locking in a coach; they’ve gone for a pair of co-coaches with some speculation that one of them might play; they’re coming off a grand final loss; and they’re setting out minus a few key players.
But it’d be a brave pundit who writes MCUE off given – in similar circumstances – they came out and set the benchmark for most of last season. Actually, pretty well all season bar grand final day.
It was a most unfortunate ending and, in the words of departing co-coach Chris Daniher at the time, “That’s what this year will be remembered for, that we didn’t turn up and play on the day.”
MCUE’s long search for a coach ended at home with well-known Goannas identity, Travis Cohalan, getting a first grade opportunity alongside returning mentor Nathon Irvin.
Melbourne-based ruckman Andrew Pettigrove won’t be back for a third season and his travelling partner, Col Sanbrook, is still weighing up his plans. While Jock Cornell is embarking on an AFL career at Geelong and Mitch Daniher won’t be seen early in the season as he recovers from a knee injury.
But they have the nucleus of a very strong outfit and the prospect of more talented juniors coming through after the Under 17s enjoyed premiership success against Coolamon last year. And the arrival of Tristan Dickson from rugby league is exciting while the return of Ryan Price is good news for the Goannas.

2015 Highlights:
MCUE blossomed under Chris Daniher’s leadership last year. After losing key players at each end of the ground, from backman Hunter Lloyd to James Creasy, Harry Himmelberg,  Irvin and Nic Casey, they were expected to do it tough. Instead, they quickly stamped themselves as the competition pacesetters.
Cohalan says Daniher’s coaching was one of the great things about 2015.
“The moves Chris made – like Matt (Collins) forward and Isaac Damme playing back – he’s a genius of the game,” Cohalan said.
“He’s obviously played AFL and knows the game inside out. To be around such a knowledgeable person around football was great.”
MCUE also got the best out of Harry Collins in the centre – whose efforts caught the eye of opposition coaches as well as his own and saw him take out the Riverina League’s Player of the Year award from Griffith dynamo Ben King.
But Daniher managed to keep a lid on any hype around the Goannas – always talking of room for improvement and asking for an even effort across the ground – and he made them a model of consistency. From round six until the end of the season, they held down top spot on the ladder for all but one week (when they dropped below Leeton-Whitton on percentage after a loss to Tigers). In the first half of the season, they dropped just one game (also to Tigers after lapsing in the last five minutes at Robertson Oval).
Of course, none of that counted for much come finals and for the second year in a row it ended in tears at Narrandera. But the club enjoyed broad success elsewhere with the Under 17s football win, and three netball premierships, including a hat-trick of titles for their dominant A-grade outfit.
Cohalan says that reflected the state of the club.
“Every team in the club made finals – netball and football,” he said.
“The 17s won, firsts got the minor premiership and we had the three netball grades win.
“The social side of the club was a highlight. It was a very good social year and if you’ve got a happy club off the field you normally go pretty well on it.”

2015 Lowlights: 
The Goannas were completely outgunned on grand final day, like a trotter waiting for a standing start while the opposition is charging off the back of the mobile. They were run off their feet by a peaking opposition and looked a step behind all day.
Neither Cohalan nor Irvin played in the disaster against Collingullie-Glenfield Park (although Irvin was close to a surprise call-up, warming up on standby for Mitch Daniher). But they felt the pain of the 71-point thrashing.
“It’s pretty hard to sit back and watch that happen,” Irvin said.
Cohalan said the players haven’t spoken about it as a group since resuming training but no-one will forget it.
“I think there’d be something very wrong if it didn’t hurt still,” he said.
“I was only assistant coach – I didn’t even play and it hurt me. It definitely hurt the players.”
Chris Daniher said immediately after the game that it should hurt, and they must learn from it.
Only time will tell what sort of mental scars the day leaves. For many players, it was a second helping of Collingullie-inflicted grand final blues and the question remains whether the previous year’s heart-ache at being run down by the Demons had anything to do with last year’s performance.

Surprise Packet: 
Jake Whitley earned the Goannas’ Rising Star nomination mid-season and if anything only got better as the year progressed.
“I think Jake Whitley went ahead in leaps and bounds,” Cohalan said.
“He had a really good year for a young kid. He was only 16 last year, so still only 17 this year and he had a really good year. He played well above his age and played some really good games.”
And the form of Damme and Matt Collins in their new roles was a revelation.
“Isaac showed he’s a really quality centre-half-back. And Matt (playing forward) – no-one had really been brave enough to put him there but he was our leading forward and a really dangerous forward. They were highlights.”

Areas to improve: 
Mango’s new coaching partnership won’t be relying on retribution and revenge for motivation.
“No matter what happens you can’t get last year or the year before back. You can never take back what’s been done,” Cohalan said.
“There are areas… we need to get a bit fitter. That’s not a revelation, every club would say it but our aim is to be the fittest and hardest working team in theRFL.
“We did a lot of hard work last year but Collingullie have done a lot of hard work and those boys have got something the last two years that they’ll remember for ever.”
The Goannas also have to plan for life without ruckman Pettigrove and probably Sanbrook, not to mention Mitch Daniher for the first half of the season. There’s a considerable amount of experience and class in the trio, not to mention Cornell, although his involvement last season was limited with Rams and GWS commitments.
But Irvin is confident improvement can come from within.
“There’s about 14 of the 17s coming up to senior footy so we’ve got to use that talent as much as we can. And I’ve already got my eye on a couple of guys who I think can be good contributors.”
Irvin says Mango enjoy the luxury of having the nucleus of a side that has been together for close to four seasons now – a rarity he believes – and a young squad with plenty of room for development. Which leads us to…
 
What to look forward to:
Not surprisingly, both co-coaches are keen to see their young talent develop – whether it’s juniors stepping up, or senior players settling into the prime of their career as mature footballers.
“The path of the club has been really progressively improving (in recent years),” Irvin said. “And that’s the entire club. So I see it as a good opportunity but there’s a lot that has got to go our way. There’s a lot to happen but we’re going to be competitive. They’re all very driven.”
Then there’s the return of Ryan Price and the confidence in knowing what he’ll bring.
“He’s a quality footballer, he can play on the ball, but also very good up forward,” Cohalan said.
And the buzz around Tristan Dickson for the opposite reason:
“He’s an exciting project player we’re working with. He has some real talent as a small forward.”
Cohalan believes they have a good mix of versatile players who can play multiple roles.
There’s also interest in the new coaching team.
“I think we both know our strengths and weaknesses,” Irvin said.
“My strength’s probably communications and the finer skills and Trav’s really good with structures and with being organised and planning.
“He’s great with discipline and a good manager of people… I was amazed at what he could get out of our reserves group and I’m really confident with him.
“We’d think we might finish bottom and we’d make a grand final because he’d get them to train and train hard and not many people can manage that that well in reserve grade.”