By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong Cricket Club coach Tom Donnell laughed when asked about Brett Forsyth’s training habits.
The pair, former school teammates and later premiership teammates, played countless innings together and grew into adulthood alongside one-another at Shepley Oval with cricket as the binding force that kept them side-by-side.
With Forsyth claiming a second Ryder Medal last week, adding to his illustrious history in the world of Victorian Premier Cricket, the question of how he maintains his consistency revealed an insight into his unwavering competitiveness, and the standards he sets for his young, emerging teammates.
“One thing with him at training is, he hates going out in the nets,” Donnell said.
“He really hates it, which is something that is slipping away from the younger guys coming through – they’d rather try to smack the ball as hard as they can, rather than learn how to bat and not go out.
“He’s still the same in that regard, he hates going out whether that’s in (training) or in a game.
“I suppose that’s what holds him a bit ahead of everyone else, just the value he puts on his wicket and the way he gets in the contest and wants to bat.”
As the demands of personal and family life take hold, Forsyth admits that he cannot commit as much time as he used to to hitting balls in the nets, and aims to maximise every opportunity afforded to him, to do so.
It’s all part of simplifying his game, and ensuring he stays mentally sharp, just as much as physically in-shape.
“I think as you get older your mind is a little stronger,” Forsyth said.
“I think if you look at some of the senior players going around, physically, they’re starting to decline, but mentally they’re at the peak of their powers.
“Just making sure that that part of the game is right, really consistent and you’re happy and really motivated to play well, I think that’s probably the most important thing for older players, especially for me, and something you need to learn as you go through your cricketing stages.
“You try to keep your game as strong as you can, and every time you bat you’re trying to show the others around you that you care and you’re invested and when you get your chance to put the bat in your hands, that you’re giving it 100 per cent, regardless of whether you’re doing bat vs ball, some throwdowns or ball-flingers.
“I think that’s an area that changes over time, because you don’t have as much time, and the time you do have, you just want to make it purposeful and show the others around you, the standard that you need to train at to become as good as you need to be.”
As the Tom Donnell era in Dandenong began last offseason, the Panthers begun the season with a one-day clash with local rivals Casey South Melbourne on a dreary and grey October day at Casey Fields.
While the Panthers fell 23 runs shy of the Swans’ target, Forsyth opened his account with a brilliant 135 off 147 balls that featured a fascinating duel with Swans’ leg spinner, Ruwantha Kellapotha, in the middle of the innings.
Kellapotha bowled a very tidy 1/58 from 10 overs but anything slight error in execution was pounced upon by Forsyth in a fascinating back-and-forth, with the two seemingly levitating over Casey Fields as the best cricketers in the middle.
The first of a pair of unbeaten hundreds to start the campaign, Donnell believes that contest set the tone for the remainder of Forsyth’s year, in which he finished second for runs scored in the Home and Away season..
“It was after round one, the hundred he made against Casey, I’m not sure he ever batted as well as that,” Donnell said.
“I know we lost the game, just, but it showed how good form he was actually in and set the platform for his season, those first two games.
“Kellapotha has been a great bowler in the competition for the last three or four years but I don’t think there’s been a player who’s played him better than Brett has.
“Just his ability to read him and hit the ball into places to get off strike, rotate the strike and score runs, he was a step above everyone else who was batting.”
The man himself still loves coming up against the best the competition has to offer, and coupled that desire with his determination to begin the new season in the best possible way.
“To come up against a good team in Casey, get a good performance and try to play well against those better players is always motivation,” Forsyth said.
“At my age, I think you just want to play good cricket against the best players and try to perform your role as best you can, whether that’s with the bat or when I’m captaining in the field as well.
“I think having a new coach and putting a new team together, in a way, that was motivation in itself to try and lead from the front, and put in a good performance in round one to get our season off to a good start.”
There’s not too much left for Forsyth to achieve in Victorian Premier Cricket, with premierships, individual accolades and personal milestones ensuring his name will be one synonymous with not only the Panthers, but the competition itself.
For Forsyth, refreshed and rejuvenated with a squad of hungry youngsters that want to elevate their games, the drive comes from a want to pave the way for the next generation.
“I’ve never really been one to look at the individual side of things in terms of what I want to achieve, or anything like that.
“If I can leave (the club) in as good a place as I found it, if not better, then I’ll be content.
“That’s a tough challenge because we found it in a good place and we’re trying to get it back to that strong place, both on and off the field.
“That’s probably the goal, to win another premiership and to play finals, and you’re obviously confident that we’re on that right path, it’s just, how long is that going to take.
“It would be enjoyable to see the players that we’ve got now, push themselves and have a lot of success as a team, as a club and individually you want to see guys representing Victoria and Australia.”
