Feelings of hurt, frustration and disappointment drove Narre Warren’s Under-19 side to a premiership this season, successfully achieving redemption on last year’s heartbreaking finals exit.
While the move to the Southern League turned over a new leaf, memories of going undefeated in 2024 and exiting finals in straight sets sat at the back of the players’ minds.
This made celebrations even sweeter on the weekend as the Magpies defeated Murrumbeena by 14 points to win the Under-19s Division 1 grand final.
After finishing as minor premiers this season with a 15-3 record, the stage was set and it was fourth-placed Murrumbeena who was the challenger.
Coach Mark “Normy” Kristalyn said last year’s finals exit made him and the entire playing group even hungrier this season.
“Personally that drove me and a fair chunk of our group which was good, we didn’t want to let that happen again,” he said.
“The boys worked their asses off to get there, but we weren’t just happy to get there, we wanted to win and fortunately we got the job done.”
Kristalyn said there was no complacency, with a few losses keeping the players grounded.
“Being 15-3, we obviously got beaten a few times this year, Bentleigh (second), Port Melbourne (third) and Frankston (fifth) knocked us over late in the season,” he said.
“It was good to lose that one because it gave us a bit of a reminder that we had to stay on our game.”
Despite the Lions controlling the first half of the opening quarter, Narre Warren made the most of its forward entries to kick three straight goals, establishing a 15-point lead at the first break.
The goals came through Luca Pascuzzi, Toby Griffiths and Austin Fardell, all in the space of seven or eight minutes.
“We steadied and found some composure and once we got one goal, we soon added another two, which was a pleasing way to start the game,” Kristalyn said.
The Lion drew first blood in the second quarter, before ruckman Liam McGuinness, who was playing a blinder; hit the scoreboard to extend the margin back to 15 points.
The arm-wrestle continued with both sides missing chances, until Dakotah Maxwell put the Magpies up by 23 points at the main break.
But Murrumbeena added two goals in the third quarter and it was anyone’s game, with the Lions coming home strong.
“At three quarter time, we might’ve been a couple of goals up, but I wasn’t happy with how we were going,” Kristalyn said.
“We were just going through the motions, so I gave them a fair bit of a spray.”
The game opened up a bit in the fourth quarter and when Narre Warren kicked the first two goals of the quarter, it appeared as though the Magpies were home, leading 51-26 … but Murrumbeena had one last effort.
The Lions piled on the next three goals of the game to bring the margin back to just seven points, making for a tense final 10 minutes.
“We steadied and kicked the next goal (through Austin Fardell) which broke their hearts a bit,” Kristalyn said.
Narre Warren held on to win by 14 points, tasting premiership glory for the second time in three years after they also won back in 2023.
After a combined 30 senior games throughout the season, captain Jimmy Dwyer, Ethan Kennedy and Julian Goerlitz were instrumental in the victory, Kennedy earning the best on ground medal for his dominant performance.
“Jules and Ethan were among the best in most games they played in the seniors as well, Jules is actually still eligible for 19s next year, but I don’t think we will see much of him,” Kristalyn said.
It was hard work which created the success, with the players hitting the track straight after last year’s devastating preliminary final loss to Officer by three points.
“Within two weeks, led by our co-captains Jimmy Dwyer and Riley Curran, the boys started training one night a week before the seniors even did,” Kristalyn said.
“It was mid-October when we started training, and it was all driven by the leaders which was awesome.
“Jimmy is like another coach, he is a really composed fella and a great footballer who leads from the front – he has a big future.”
