By Jonty Ralphsmith
Springvale Districts 200-gamer Matthew Thompson reckons he peaked in 2017.
That was illustrated at the best and fairest count for the club that year.
After seven rounds, he was runaway leader, before his big brother Kris took over the reigns as coach.
Matthew ended up winning by a solitary vote.
“Either my form dropped off or he does go that little bit harder!” said Matthew.
Noting that Matthew hasn’t won the individual accolade when he has been under him for a full season, Kris insists there’s no bias on his end.
“He’s just like any other player, we’re good mates outside of footy just like I am with a lot of the guys, I’m not any harder on him than other guys, never have been, and he gets no favourites from me that’s for sure,” Kris said.
“Some of the boys might disagree!” Matt quips back cheekily in the coaches room at Springvale Reserve.
Dees president Greg Scott reckons he’s had a dealing with a Thompson every day since 2016.
Their sister has overseen the rapid growth of the netball program, and their parents … well they never miss a game.
The senior coach jokes that he comes over for the annual Christmas lunch.
The contingent will all be out in force on Saturday.
Almost 20 years after Matthew remember cycling down with his mates, his two girls and five nieces are a staple at Springy Reserve.
His Dad generally enjoys some frothies while his Mum is a loud supporter.
Mum hasn’t passed on her vocal chords to her son.
Matt’s a popular teammate and played an important role through some dark years for Springy Districts.
He stood up to lead the side when there was no-one else and remains part of the leadership group today under Mason Russell.
But the weight of his words has come via their scarcity.
Matthew’s first major memory of the club was celebrating as a young fella in September 2007 after the firsts, including Kris, and reserves won a premiership.
“He’s been first class,” said Matthew, speaking seriously about the impact of his brother.
“I don’t think I would still be playing footy if I had someone else.
“I probably would have thrown the towel in by now, seeing the group improve as we go has been pretty good.
“He has game-plans and having a coach like that has been so different and helped everyone.
“You just have to look now at the evolution of local footy even, how you can get stats on your phone, vision, coming in on a Tuesday and having a review and watching yourself on TV like bloody hell, you wouldn’t have thought of that 10 years ago.
“Kris brought some things he learned at VFL down to these local levels and if someone does that, the rest of the competition follows.
“We’ve been doing the reviews for years now and Kris has been a pioneer of that.”
The Thompsons were Noble Park juniors but destined for Springy Districts due to friendships.
Those sorts of recruits and stories are vital for the Dees which doesn’t have a junior club, so is often cutting it fine with player points.
As well as the two premierships he’s won, Matthew ranks a win last year over the arch rivals as the most satisfying moment of his career.
“If you want to do well, you will,” Matt says.
“If you’re mentally there and you’re determined to do well, you will, so I have always had that attitude that if I’m going to do something, I’ll give it a red hot crack so that’s why I’ve got what I’ve got, I think.
“I’m not overly skilled, I’m not lightning quick, I’m not the fittest guy out there, but I am a guy who really wants to do well and it plays on me a bit if I play a bad game, so the mental side of things is where I have an edge on some people.
“I’ve always been competitive and you get a lot of drive from mates from other clubs talking down to us.
“That was my biggest drive early on, to prove to them that we can get there and do well.
“Back in the day people would ask ‘are you gonna fold soon?’ ‘you’ve got no juniors’ ‘come two ks down the road’ and then last year we beat Dingley, it probably is the best home and away win I’ve had.”
Game 200 was initially set to be last week but a concussion the previous round saw him sit out.
Instead, he brought up the milestone in an important win over Port Melbourne at the ground where the memories started.
All the way back from the bike rides in as an 11-year-old.
