By Nick Creely
Keysborough coach Matt Ferguson acknowledges that one quarter of footy cost his side a chance at playing in the 2018 Division 2 grand final.
As his side continues to grow, mature and learn, he hopes that the pain of losing two consecutive preliminary finals will be the making of his group.
As the Burra gears up for its Round One clash with Murrumbeena on 6 April, Ferguson said the key to his side improving themselves does not simply lie with pure ability or star power, but with the mindset that they will maintain the same intensity in every game, from early April, until finals time in August and September.
“It’s about being switched on 100 per cent of the time – we won 10 of the 12 quarters in finals, but we had just about our worst quarter in the prelim (against eventual premiers Highett), being 39 points down at quarter time,” he said.
“It’s just about making sure we are mentally prepared for every game, and making sure we’re up for every week – particularly, if you look at the competition, with Chelsea Heights, Springvale Districts and Heatherton coming in, there are no easy games.
“We have to ensure we are mentally strong, and play the brand of footy we can play – if we stay the same we’re going to go backwards, and if we improve every area, the results will look after itself.”
From a playing list perspective, Ferguson named his leadership for this season last week, with Michael Downie named as senior captain, and Geoff Humphreys, Ryan Goodes, Jarryd Cipressi and Damian Collins making up a strong five-man group.
He said that after a long process, it was pleasing to have narrowed it down to five players after a bunch of names put their hand up.
“These guys have set the tone for the pre-season, and I like to do the leadership group after Christmas and give the guys an opportunity to put their hand up,” he said.
“The three guys that have previously been in it speak for themselves (Geoff Humphreys, Ryan Goodes and Michael Downie), Damian Collins has really come on in his leadership, and the example he sets – he’s come from playing all of his footy at Narre Warren, and you can just tell by the way he goes about things.
“He’ll do anything to improve himself, and that’s the sort of example we want.”
The Burra have brought back a host of names to the club this season, with Richard Minney, Simon Sloss and Jack McKinney all slotting in seamlessly, but the return of former senior club champion Anthony Brannan has Ferguson particularly ecstatic.
“I’ve tried previously to get him back, and he’s obviously been coaching at St John’s, and I kept pestering him I guess, and he just decided he wanted to finish his footy at Keysy – his leadership already has shown, he’s been amazing, and he’s brought some mates down with him as well which has been good,” he said.
“He’ll be really valuable for us – we had a pretty young defence last year, and him coming back, will be invaluable.”
Another big name to put pen to paper is former state league midfielder Scott Terrens, but Ferguson said the club will need to be patient with the star recruit.
“He hasn’t played for the last two years, he actually broke his leg – he was signed at the Pines, but broke his leg, and he’s had a couple years off,” he said.
“He’ll be a slow build, with his running and so forth, he’s still got a bit of pain – we’re thinking with him, we’ll see the best in the second half of the year.
“Hopefully he’s there in round one, but we’re prepared to play the long game with him.”
Ferguson’s side were one of the great attacking threats of the competition last year, with Chris Bryan (80), Matthew Carnelley (48) and Cory Hargreaves (30) combining for a whopping 158 goals between them, and hopes that his side can build on that with the competition’s new rules.
“There’s been a bit of tinkering, and we have to because of the new rules coming in, so I guess from our point of view, we’ve always been an attacking side, we move it quickly and when you’ve got key forwards like we do, that’s the way we want to play,” he said.
“We’ll try and go even further with that with the new rules, the kick in rules and the six-six-six, they should really suit our style of play, but every club will be looking at how to best exploit the new rules.”
But ensuring that his side can remain fit and healthy is one of the big priorities for the club this season, with Ferguson believing the group is as well placed as he can recall.
“Our pre-season’s been the best in terms of preparation since I’ve been at the club, so we’ve got a really healthy list, which is something I can’t say we’ve had in the last five years,” he said.
“I think that can hold us in good stead, you can only control so much, but with a bit of luck, we can reduce the soft tissue injuries, so that’s a big area for us.”
In other massive news around the club, highly talented Burra star Riet Pal – with only three seasons of footy behind him – has gained a spot on Collingwood’s VFL list for 2019, with Ferguson praising the talented youngster for his rapid rise.
“It’s an amazing story, he come down with a mate at pre-season (in 2017) – we’re a really welcoming club and didn’t really have any expectations about what he could do, and the first night he trained, we were like ‘wow, what have we got here?’” he said.
“The ability is there, but it’s more his attitude, it’s second to none – he’s a really smart kid, and the world’s his oyster.
“I’ve told him that he shouldn’t have any limits on where he can go with his footy, because he’ll only get better – every session, every game and in two years of footy, it’s pretty remarkable.
“I hope he plays as much VFL footy as possible, but he’ll be great for us when available – I think he can be a very good VFL footballer, and potentially further than that.”
