By Jonty Ralphsmith
Dingley’s Team of the Decade is chock-full of premiership talent.
The 26 was named at a function at Marine Hotel, Brighton, on Saturday 23 July, with Shane Morwood – having coached for nine of the 10 years – selecting the side.
Now assistant coach Tony Lavars was named in the back pocket and Morwood named him as the skipper.
Lavars had some stints as skipper, and Morwood praised both him and vice-captain Lee Wonnacott as strong communicators who were important for the culture of the club during the premiership years.
Jack Ades was also named in the back pocket with Morwood admiring his journey through the club
“I’m super proud of how he’s developed over the years, some may have seen him as a bit of a battler,” Morwood said.
“He was a defensive on-baller, and then when Tony Lavars retired we put Jack into a back pocket and he became a great back pocket player.
“But if we were in trouble in the midfield and getting beaten in clearances, we could put Jack in there to get control back.”
The defence was harmonious and parsimonious during the premiership years with its strength allowing them to be successful with fast ball movement and set up confidently offensively.
Kristen Feehan, Trav La Rocca, Matt Morwood, Andrew Frost, Wonnacott and Jack Clausen all formed part of that backline.
Danny Ades, the inspirational hard-at-it midfielder who took over from Morwood as coach, was named in the midfield alongside Chris Horton-Milne, Chris Milne and Josh Boyle.
Former Casey Scorpion and Frankston Dolphin, running machine Lucas Walmsley, and Josh Ferguson were named on the wings.
Calhan McQueen and Dan Farmer, barometers up forward with Farmer winning the league goalkicking in 2019, were named as the pillars in attack, with Marcus Freeman, Robert Rusan, Jackson Beet and James Ball.
Brett Lavers, Luke Bartholomew, Kane Davidson and Daniel Turcareli were named on the bench.
Clausen, Frost and Darren Andrews and were all inducted into the Hall of Fame on the night.
