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www.gippslandtimes.com.au
A throwback to golden days as top-level players add quality to Gippsland League competition
Liam Durkin
IT appears to be destination Gippsland League in season 2022. Remarkably, seven of the leagues 10 member clubs will feature ex-AFL players next season - the most ever in the leagues history. A number of former professionals have either signed with or recommitted to clubs across the league. Some, such as Sale’s Jack Leslie, Maffra's Danny Butcher, Wonthaggi’s Jarryd Blair and Moe’s Declan Keilty are local players who have returned home in recent years, while other high profile names have also been recruited to help clubs in their quest. Traralgon recently secured the services of former Port Adelaide player Brett Eddy, as well as Hawthorn rookie Tom Schneider. The pair came to the Maroons thanks to a friendship with current coach Jake Best. A little further west, Warragul has added two ex-AFL players in Nick Graham and Jed Lamb. Gippsland boys both of them, Graham is from Traralgon and Lamb from Yarram. The former Carlton players will be looking to improve the Gulls fortunes in 2022 following some lean times. At the other end of the Gippsland League boundary, former Port Adelaide and St Kilda player Logan Austin will coach Bairnsdale next season. Austin’s appointment means Port Adelaide will be very well represented in the Gippsland League, as he will join Eddy and Butcher as a trio of former Power players in the local area. Another local coach of note will be seen on a grander scale next season, with Drouin’s Clint Proctor taking the head at Box Hill. Although Morwell doesn’t have any AFL players confirmed at this stage, the Tigers have been home to players of note in the past, with their back-to-back premiership team of 2013-14 featuring local boy Dean MacDonald, who was drafted to Richmond, and Collingwood 200 gamer Tarkyn Lockyer. While Leongatha also might not have any former AFL players, the Parrots will have the next best thing in home-grown talent Aaron Heppell. The younger brother of current Essendon captain Dyson, the junior Heppell won three best-andfairest medals for the Bombers in the VFL during his time and would have to be classed in the 'extremely unlucky' category to have never been given a crack at the top level. With so many AFL players running around next season, Gippsland League followers of a certain vintage might be experiencing similar feelings to what was seen around the turn of the century. The mid-to-late-1990s and early 2000s had a litany of ex-AFL players suiting up for various Gippsland League clubs. Former Gippsland League player Dean Abbott recalled just how strong the competition was at the time. “It was tough, unbelievably tough back then,” he said. “There were no bad players at senior level. “You never had any easy opponents or easy games, every club had some real stars.” As Abbott explained, there was some genuine match winners getting around. “I can remember Wonthaggi in particular had Brett Lovett, Dean Rice and Doc Wheildon,” he said. “Leongatha had a bunch of ex-AFL guys. Adrian Campbell, Matt Mansfield, Paul Hudson, Michael Johnston, Barry Standfield, Standfield was a giant, Campbell was a big man, Brian Royal coached them at one stage, Christian Macri who came back from the Bulldogs. “Sale had Anthony Banik who was an ex-number one draft pick.” With this in mind, an interesting exercise may be to reflect on previous eras of the Gippsland League to try and determine when in fact the league was at its strongest. Although comparisons are often unfair and it is too difficult to judge different eras, it is possible to get some understanding from the evidence available. The general rule of thumb is that great players would play well in any era, but one does need to consider how much the game of football has changed over time, and also accept that statistics do not tell the full story. An example of this could well be seen in Richmond champion Matthew Richardson, who kicked 91 goals in the 1996 AFL season but only laid a grand total of six tackles in the same year. While there is no doubting Richo was an outstanding player, are his statistics skewed due to the fact there was nowhere near as much emphasis on team defence during that time? Pivoting back to the Gippsland League, the 1990s
Sale local and former Gold Coast defender Jack Leslie will be one of many AFL players in the Gippsland League next season. Photo: Gold Coast Suns Football Club
is generally considered to be the time when the league was in its heyday. This claim could be justified by the fact the then Latrobe Valley Football League won the state country championship in 1990 and 1995 (as the Gippsland Latrobe FL). It was said local players were more engaged with football around this time, as not many went away on holidays or did overtime at work during the season. Those taking a different approach however might point to the fact the only reason the league was strong in the 1990s was because of the strength of four clubs - Traralgon, Morwell, Sale and Leongatha. Those four clubs played in every grand final during the decade except one (Moe played Traralgon in 1999), with the Maroons only missing the grand final in 1996 and 1997 - the two seasons they were in the VFL. Conversely, the modern-day Gippsland League has been much more even. From 2010 to 2019, seven of the leagues 10 member clubs featured in the senior grand final. The 2019 season was particularly even, as only three wins separated the team that finished last to the team that played finals. Additionally, 2019 saw only one win separate the minor premier from fourth. While it is hard to draw much on the curtailed season just gone, league and club officials will be hoping trends continue to follow 2019 to make sure that season alone is not an aberration, as all in local football are surely seeking to head toward true equalisation. The debate on equalisation leads to the question of does a healthy competition constitute a high standard? That is a question to ponder for another day, but it would be possible for the two to coexist depending on demographics. Proponents saying the standard of the Gippsland League has decreased might point to the fact the league’s most recent placing on the Community Championship Rankings had it outside the top 10, in what could be viewed as an indictment on the quality of football in the area. It should be noted however that the legitimacy of those rankings is for the most part, neither here nor there, as they have been based on interleague matches played once a year when the best players are either injured or don’t make themselves available. To help address this, the Gippsland League took the praiseworthy step a few years ago of implementing a self-nomination process for interleague, so players were putting their hand up because they genuinely wanted to. In the eyes of many passionate Gippsland League supporters, the league, as the only major league
The addition of players such as Traralgon recruit Brett Eddy has left many pondering just how strong the Gippsland League will be in season 2022. Photo: Gippsland League
Former Yarram footballer Jed Lamb, who played at Sydney, GWS and Carlton, will line-up for Warragul alongside former Blues teammate Nick Graham in 2022. Photo: Carlton
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in Gippsland, could rightfully take a place inside the top 10 at least. With so many ex-AFL players set to step onto the fields of the Gippsland League next season, logic would suggest the standard should increase substantially. Just how substantially remains to be seen, but given the calibre of players, the profile of the league will no doubt be raised, which can only help football in the region. As for this writers view, he is a modernist, believing that the sport of today is the best it’s ever been played. Sport science, technology, ground conditions and coaching have all improved, so the standard of play should really continue to rise because of this. If the standard of the Gippsland League does reach a new level next season, it is sure to carry much more meaning for the premiership winning team in years to come. Perhaps the debate on comparing eras is best left to the great author George Orwell, who said: “Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it”.
