By JARROD POTTER
THERE was no comfortable transition into TAC Cup head coaching for Dandenong’s Wayne Siekman, but it was an opportunity he will never forget.
It was never going to be a cakewalk – despite Dandenong flying in second spot and Northern Knights struggling towards the foot of the ladder – but the Knights have been one of the Stingrays’ biggest bogey teams in this competition.
Given his first run in the head coach’s chair – with Craig Black stepping aside for the afternoon to run the bench – Siekman was thrown head-first into the crucible of elite coaching … and thrived.
It wasn’t smooth sailing, but at least it was steady as Dandenong built a four-goal margin at half-time.
But thereafter Dandenong conceded four third-term goals against Northern Knights on a miserable day for football – with the hail and driving rain seemingly playing into Northern’s hands.
Halting the decay, Dandenong’s first glimmer of revival threatened to turn the match ugly.
A shot on goal from Stingrays’ defender Tommy Glen split the uprights after the three-quarter time siren and irked the Knights no end.
Some chirping from both sides led to full on chaos – punches were thrown, jumpers ripped and both sides left in a state of seething agitation before cooler heads ripped the skirmishing sides apart.
Usually the line coaches take each group separately – forwards, midfielders and defenders – but a one-minute talk from Siekman to the entire team beforehand defined his day as coach.
The usually laid-back but precise coach showed a completely different side of his character to rally the team.
It’s not part of his usual suite of coaching actions – getting worked up is generally something saved for others in the fraternity – but Siekman’s fury at Stingrays lowering their guard proved influential. While it would’ve been easier to let the group stay distracted, Siekman wanted to drive home what Dandenong football is really about.
“We don’t do that,” Siekman shouted at his group at the final break.
“As I said at the start of the game, this will be won by the team that works the hardest, the longest.
“The manliest thing you can do is to go and beat them on the scoreboard.”
It would be naive to say that speech alone sparked the Stingrays’ revival – as the run-and-carry returned and the forward-50 locked down any attempt of Knights’ escape – but it was definitely integral to righting the trajectory back towards a Dandenong 18-point triumph.
It fit into Seikman’s coaching philosophies – written on the old whiteboard at the back of the Preston City Oval change rooms.
“Team 1st – Discipline, Care, Show It.”
It was especially impressive for a man making his way in the high-calibre coaching world in his biggest outing yet – one result to definitely jot down and put on the resume.
It was that fight-back Siekman took away from his TAC Cup debut – it’s easy to win from a position of power, but to stabilise and return fire after a challenge makes for a sweeter victory.
“We got challenged – and I knew that they would challenge us at some stage as they’ve been a really competitive football side,” Siekman said after the match.
“They got on top of us early, second quarter we bounced back, third quarter they got on top of us again and then our boys responded well.
“Little bit of biff at three-quarter time, which was a super goal for Tommy Glen to kick that and gave us some momentum into the huddle.
“They lost the momentum and that was nearly the pivotal result of the game.”
Siekman thought it was exceptional to get his inaugural chance to coach the Stingrays and tick all the boxes after a week in charge of the TAC Cup group.
“It was great and as I said during the week, to have the opportunity is fantastic, to have the whole week to train for a few different things – that was pleasing,” Siekman said.
“Happy to hand the keys back to Blacky – we take on Sandringham next week – but it was a great opportunity and the boys should be proud of wearing the jumper today (Sunday) as it was great to get the job done.”
Siekman will step back into the assistant coaching role when Dandenong faces Sandringham on Sunday morning at Frankston VFL Oval.
