Sport
12 September, 2022
Under 16s swoop to bring Maryborough a premiership
Maryborough have brought home a premiership to savour on Sunday afternoon, with the under 16s winning the Bendigo Junior Football League under 16s reserves division one premiership, following an eight-point victory over Sandhurst. A determined...
Maryborough have brought home a premiership to savour on Sunday afternoon, with the under 16s winning the Bendigo Junior Football League under 16s reserves division one premiership, following an eight-point victory over Sandhurst.
A determined Magpies outfit were able to respond after falling 11 points behind at quarter time, kicking three goals to level the scores at the main break, before a four-goal to three second half ensured they would take the premiership.
Captain Jake Gavriliadis took the best on ground medallion following a stellar performance in defence, while the likes of Cale Wright, Jack Skinner, Khoa Do, Robert Muscat and Bailey Walhouse also performed well and were named in the best.
Muscat led the way with three goals, while vice-captain Kaian Constable kicked two.
Magpies under 16 coach Scott Quinlan said the final three quarters was the result that they had been hoping for, drawing on experiences throughout the finals to get the job done on Sunday.
“We only scored one point in the first quarter, but I wasn’t that concerned. I had a lot of confidence from having the ball inside 50 a lot more than what Sandhurst did, as well as reminding the boys about the last quarter against Castlemaine, telling them what they can do as a group. It might have been pretty overwhelming to a degree with the large crowd,” he said.
“A minute into the last quarter, I felt nauseous. From a spectacle point of view, everyone loves a close game, but when you are coaching in the hot seat, you can really feel the pressure. When the siren went, I teared up, I won’t lie. I started getting out on to the ground and Kaian knocked me over. I’ve been through a bit with him previously, so to do that with the emotion was so rewarding as a coach. It’s just an amazing feeling. You can’t put it into words without living it throughout the year.”
Quinlan said he had received a multitude of messages from well-wishers who congratulated him for delivering a premiership in what has been a tough year for the club.
“The support from everyone — senior players, coaches, past players, even opposition clubs such as Golden Square and Marong, who we played, it made it all worthwhile,” he said.
“I was speaking to Cam Skinner last night — it’s reward for effort but it’s also the result of having such a great group, sticking together from our depth players all the way through to our best players.”
Quinlan also paid tribute to the performance of Gavriliadis, while singling out Ronnie Feeney as another good contributor.
“I blamed myself for the loss in the second semi when I ran the gauntlet and put Jake Gavriliadis into the midfield, even though he played a great game, but I decided to put him back to where he plays his best football, and he was sensational yesterday,” he said.
“He played on someone who had kicked 50 or 60 goals this year. Jake was enormous, but it could have gone to him or to Ronnie Feeney. I thought they were both fantastic. Jake’s on-field presence galvanises the boys. I thought he had broken his nose after copping a ball there, and we couldn’t stop the bleeding, but he was only off for two or three minutes and went straight back on, which was a big lift.”
The focus now for the club is ensuring they can lock away the outstanding talents that the club have as they move through to under 18s football.
“There’s about 10 or 11 that are older age that will go up, but it’s now just a matter of working with (senior coach) Rick Andrews and (under 18s coach) Brady Neill to lock them away.” Quinlan said.
“We’ll now give them a couple of weeks off and start locking these guys away to play with the under 18s next year.”
