The strength of Clay

By Brad Kingsbury
CLAY Cullen is a good, honest football lover and that’s just as well because without those traits Keysborough Football Club would likely be a memory of the ‘old days’.
The hard-working president took control five years ago and has endured crises that would have broken lesser men.
As if finishing last, without a win and as the laughing stock of the competition in 2005 was not bad enough, one year later Cullen found himself having to defend the club’s aggressive recruiting drive that saw an influx of players sign up under then coach Paul Jeffries.
Then he was forced to sack Jeffries and had to face the music and explain another controversial decision.
However Cullen is still there, still in charge and he stood proudly on the hill at Berwick on Saturday and watched his unfancied senior side play their hearts out against the might of now triple premiership powerhouse Narre Warren, and despite the one-sided result, could not have been more proud.
“If you’d have said at the start of the year that we would be playing a grand final you’d have been laughed at,” he said. “To get there the young boys have lifted to a standard that few would have thought they could.
“We didn’t play well on the day, but we didn’t expect to be here at the start of the year and I’m proud of the way the players, the coach and the whole club has gone about it throughout the year.”
Cullen admitted that the Burra was forced to recruit heavily several seasons ago after finishing on the bottom of the ladder without a win, but since then had developed its youngsters and now had a side made up of predominantly local players.
He added that he was very proud of that development and the club deserved some respect for its progress.
“Everyone says we’re full of imports but there are 17 players on our senior list (13 grand final players) that have come through the club’s under 18s and two more that are 10-year players,” he said. “That’s better than a lot of clubs I reckon and it’s about time people started recognising that.”
Corey Wilkinson and Luke McGuinness are the veterans Cullen was referring to, while among the Keysy boys are rising stars Michael Downie, Tyson King, Matthew Freeman, Dean Gentle and the Morland brothers Daniel and Kieran.