Friday, December 8, 2017 – Bendigo Weekly
SPORT • 31
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Culture a key in Kendle return By JOEL PETERSON
THEY trained Tuesdays and Thursdays and played on weekends, but Monday nights might have been the most important part of the Bendigo Braves’ 2016 championship season. The club’s on-court success was in no small part due to strong team chemistry, the bonds of which were forged at a weekly Monday dinner at coach Ben Harvey’s house. So when the former league MVP signed with the Braves and decided to make a return to Bendigo in 2018, one thing was on his mind. “He wanted to know if Monday night dinners were still on,” coach Ben Harvey said. “I said yes, but Jeremy has gotten married and there’s a fair few more of us now. So my biggest worry is who is going to fund it.” After the year in which he led Bendigo to a long-awaited championship, the paths of both the Braves and Kendle himself haven’t reached the destination either would have hoped for. Kendle signed in New
Zealand hoping to land a long-term NBL roster spot and bounced around from Brisbane to Sydney but was unable to cement himself. Meantime 2017 for the Braves was wildly disappointing, plagued by offcourt issues, injuries and a prevailing individualism
He makes everyone around him better that did not lend itself to any kind of success. As has become customary among so many Braves players under Harvey, Kendle kept in contact with his coach after developing a strong bond with Harvey and his family. “I’ve always prided myself on having that strong bond with my players, which I think is really important,” Harvey said.
“When he gave me an indication he was thinking about it, it was really exciting. But it was a strange feeling – I was really happy he wanted to come back, but had to not get too excited just in case he didn’t.” Kendle’s sole SEABL season was nothing short of a revelation – in all 27 games in 2016 he scored at least 16 points, only dipped below 20 points five times and topped 30 points 12 times. Harvey said Kendle’s greatest strength is not shown in the box score. “He’s just a phenomenal team player, he makes everyone around him better and I think that’s one of his biggest assets,” Harvey said. “Jeremy knows he has to get better, and that he saw this as an opportunity to develop is a real credit to what we have here.” It hasn’t been all doomand-gloom for Kendle since his Kiwi sojourn saw him leave the Braves. In that time he’s been married to now-wife Nadia and no doubt learned plenty from his NBL experience. It isn’t clear whether he
Forward thinking for Spirit WITH eight games remaining in the WNBL season and the team resigned to a fate that doesn’t include playoffs, the time has come for the Bendigo Spirit to cast an eye toward the future. Bendigo played Melbourne last night before it faces up to Townsville at home on Saturday night, but the Spirit were sitting five games behind the postseason spots with eight to play heading into the round. The numbers simply don’t add up, and coach Simon Pritchard said this week that he would spend time through Bendigo’s unrelenting December schedule assessing various factors ahead of next season. Young players will come into that equation, and no doubtwhether the likes of Kara Tessari, Ebony Rolph, Ashleigh Spencer and Ash Karaitiana have the potential to contribute in the future at the national level. It will also likely include an assessment on whether to bring back players such as Gabe Richards, in the twilight of her career. “There is an element of that, we can’t look too far ahead in terms of who we’ll need next year until we have a budget and can
BASL LAYS DOWN LAW DISCIPLINARY notices have been issued to several Bendigo Amateur Soccer League clubs following incidents in the 2017 finals series. The league confirmed it has issued misconduct offences in relation to a number of breaches that occurred during the finals series and at the league’s presentation night. “It is greatly disappointing that misconduct for offfield behaviour continues to be an issue for the league,” the statement read. The league says it cannot comment on the specifics of cases due to the right of the individuals and their club to appeal the discipline committee’s findings.
TIGERS IN TOWN
PRIZED RECRUIT: Jeremy Kendle spent last season in New Zealand. will get the chance to return to the NBL level, but Harvey is backing his star recruit. “Jeremy can play at that level. I have no doubt about that. He just has to get the right opportunity, which he hasn’t yet,” he said. What is clear is the end game for this reunited pair. That’s to win a second SEABL championship. Harvey makes no bones about following the model
that led to success two years ago. “At the end of the day, we’re going to have a great team, but we have to go and get it,” Harvey said. “Yes, Jeremy Kendle is back, I’m expecting our guys to step up. “Guys are going to get more opportunities, but they have to earn it. “I’m very excited for next season.”
STANDOUT: Betnijah Laney continues to be reliable for Bendigo.
plan for that and that is something that doesn’t happen until next year,” Pritchard said. “But we need to give Kara more opportunity, the same with Eb and quote a few of the girls. We do have to assess their development and their potential.” Bendigo’s form in the past three weeks has rebounded from a mid-season swoon that saw it lose four games straight. The Spirit went down to Dandenong at home last Saturday by seven points, following
a 10-point loss to the Rangers a fortnight ago. Forward Nadeen Payne says wins aren’t far away. “We are so close, that’s the frustrating thing but also what you take some hope out of,” she said. “I feel like we’re not being outplayed as much as we are just making poor decisions that are costing us at the other end.” Bendigo will target fixtures against Canberra and Dandenong this month as games it believes it
can – and should – win. But it may have a bigger role to play in the changing landscape that is the WNBL playoff picture. “I want to shape the finals, that’s definitely a focus,” Pritchard said. “The results this year have shown that you don’t need to be far away from your best to lose and lose big.” “So while we need to bring our best every game I think every other team will need to bring their best to beat us as well.”
REIGNING premier Richmond will bring its 2018 AFL Community Camp to Bendigo in February. The Tigers announced this week they would be in Bendigo and Echuca on February 12 and 13. The Bendigo region is part of the club’s Next Generation Academy zone. AFL Central Victoria’s Shane Koop said the camp will be focussed on male and female participation outcomes and strengthening the academy alignment with the club.
Junior T20 comp a hit THE new under-16 Twenty20 competition being trialled by the Bendigo District Cricket Association is proving a hit with young cricketers. The BDCA has 10 teams competing in the 20-over-a-side series on Tuesday night, which essentially serves as a substitute training session for many teams. With Bendigo United not fielding a side, Maiden Gully becomes the 10th team in the competition. The competition’s inception follows the league’s success in implementing under-16 and under-14 girls’s competitions in recent seasons. Bendigo also has one of the biggest T20 blast areas in the country, as seen on Friday nights at the bustling Beischer Park. “It’s about kids getting out there and having fun,” BDCA president Wayne Walsh said. “It was an idea from Travis Harling and Cricket Victoria’s Ben DeAraugo. We play twenty 20 at senior level and the kids wanted to play it so we’ve given it a go and it’s been a good response. “The kids still play their cricket on Saturdays too, but it’s just something different for them.” The Tuesday night concept could also pave the way for the BDCA to schedule some junior matches midweek, though the league says no decision has been made on that.
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