Brothers Helping Lions ROAR

The recruitment of footballing siblings

Leigh and Myles Poholke from Sorrento to Moe has been a significant factor in the club’s impressive start to the 2025 season in the Gippsland Football League.

Words, Chris West

When the Moe Football Netball Club appointed Leigh Poholke as playing coach for the 2025 season, they were actually getting a double act, which added plenty more into the bargain to boost their plan to end a long premiership drought.

Accompanying the prolific 32-yearold goal kicking key forward in the switch across from Sorrento to the Lions was younger brother Myles, 26, a versatile and dynamic player possessing AFL level experience with the Adelaide Crows. “It was always going to be a package deal involving the two of us,” Leigh says. “As long as I can still play and am able to be on the footy field, we’re sticking together.”

Myles is equally happy to be continuing to play under his older brother’s coaching, which he has become accustomed to at Sorrento for the past four years after his tenure on the Adelaide Crows list that ended in 2020. “Leigh and I both said if it was ever to happen that we leave Sorrento, we’d go together,” Myles observes.

Sporting Moe’s maroon and blue colours for the first time this year has felt like a homecoming of sorts for the brothers. Both were born locally at Moe Hospital and spent their early years in the town before moving to the Mornington Peninsula when Leigh was aged eight and Myles just two. The Poholke brothers grew up to make a name for themselves in football circles, dominating for season after season with the Sorrento Sharks.

Myles took his career further afield after his junior days at Sorrento, joining the Dandenong Stingrays as a springboard into the elite AFL competition. Selected by Adelaide with pick number 44 in the 2016 AFL National Draft, he went on to play

16 games for the Crows from 2017 to 2020 and kicked five goals in those appearances at the game’s highest level.

Leigh has been one of the Mornington Peninsula Football League’s leading lights throughout his stellar career at Sorrento. He booted a club record 678 goals in 199 games with the Sharks. Opportunities in Gippsland emerged on Leigh’s radar after parting ways with Sorrento at the end of last season.

“The chance to join Moe came about because our dad lives in Tanjil South and has mates who have connections to the club,” he explains. “One of those friends, Jase Donnelly, is a keen supporter and helped set up a meeting with the President, Mat Howlett and Football Director, Clinton Taylor and everything fell into place from there. The move to a Gippslandbased club just made sense to me, especially Moe being our original hometown. Although we’ve been a long time away, we still feel a strong connection to Gippsland and from the moment I accepted the playing coach role at Moe, I’ve felt like I owe it to the area to perform to the best of my ability here.”

Both brothers have settled comfortably into their new football home and have high praise for all aspects of the club. “Starting a new job is always exciting, but it’s been a new lease on life and a very enjoyable fresh start for me at Moe. I’m loving it,” Leigh says.

“The people have been amazing. I’ve been blown away by how supportive and caring everyone has been.

The Poholke name is a familiar one in this area and even dad is catching up with people from his past through Myles and I now playing here. We’re gaining an appreciation that country football has a unique feel of its own, and that’s not meant in any way as a knock on Sorrento, it’s just different here.”

Myles also feels relaxed and right at home at Moe. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the club itself and how it operates. It’s seamless. Everyone is doing their job, and they have lots of volunteers everywhere willing to help. It has a great family, community feel. The players have also been amazing. They are a very down to earth group, and I get on well with all of them on and off the field,” he comments. “I love change and meeting new people. That’s probably been my favourite part so far. The standard of football has really impressed me as well. I love big grounds and fast, open play, so I’m really enjoying everything about it here.”

At the time of writing, Moe was sitting at the top of the Gippsland Football League ladder, with four commanding wins over Bairnsdale, Maffra, Leongatha and Drouin in its first five games. The Poholke brothers started the season with a bang, with Leigh kicking five goals and Myles putting in a best on ground performance in the 45-point opening round win away at Bairnsdale. Unfortunately, Leigh sustained a serious quad muscle injury in the last quarter of that game, which sidelined him for several weeks and confined him solely to coaching duties during his recovery.

The Lions have also been further strengthened this season by an influx of other talented recruits, including Ben Crocker, who also brings AFL level experience from his time at both Adelaide and Collingwood. Crocker bagged a 10goal haul in the crushing 99-point victory over Maffra in Round 3 and a further eight in the 130-point demolition of Drouin in Round 5. Myles first crossed paths with Crocker when they spent a season together as team mates at Adelaide in 2020 and was instrumental in persuading him to join him at Moe this year. Leigh also brought one of his best mates Aaron Paxton across from Sorrento. “Aaron lives in Longwarry, which made it an easy decision for him, and we also added Alex Dijkstra who was a contact of Aaron’s from Bunyip,” Leigh says. “We’ve also recruited Kurt Holt from Churchill, Matthew Roberts from Neerim South and former Mt Eliza captain Nathan Scagliarini.” »

Leigh also identifies 17-year-old midfielder Luke Cheffers as an outstanding young prospect. “This kid is a star and is definitely one to watch. He will most likely get drafted to the AFL I think,” he predicts.

“He won Yinnar’s Senior Best and Fairest award last year at sixteen and has come across to us this season but has also been picked up by Gippsland Power. We’ve been fortunate to have Luke play a couple of games for us in the Seniors so far, where’s he’s racked up big possessions and hit the scoreboard both times.”

Whilst welcoming the new talent that has been added around them, the Poholke brothers appreciate that there is an expectation on them to lead the quest for premiership success at Moe. Both have admiration and respect for each other’s football prowess, and their capability to deliver on and off the field. “Myles gives you the ultimate flexibility as a coach to be able to have someone who can cover any position.” Leigh comments. “He can go half back, midfield or forward and have a big impact in each. Effectively, when he goes back, he’s your best half back, when he goes mid, he’s your best mid and when he goes forward, he’s your best forward.

You’d love to clone him. I imagine it would be hard to be in his shoes at times having to listen to your brother as a coach, but he never complains about anything. He can get frustrated with himself if he doesn’t impact to his maximum capability but never blames me or anyone else. He’s an awesome teammate. Everyone loves playing with him. Myles is also a good trainer and always turns up in tip top shape.”

In turn, Myles believes the depth of his older brother’s football intellect is his greatest attribute. “Leigh has always had an incredibly smart football brain,” he says. “It’s no secret that he’s not blessed with pace or jumping ability, but what has enabled him to go through his whole career so successfully is his ability to see things unfold before everyone else does. He’s so aware of what’s going on around him. That comes out in simple things like his body work to take a mark at the top of the goal square. He just seems to be a step ahead of everybody. Although Leigh has never been all that athletic, in his younger days he did have explosive pace off the mark, which helped on the lead. He’s also a pretty reliable shot for goal.”

Myles says that off the field as coach, Leigh brings a hard edge and holds the players to higher standards. “He’s also a good motivator of players and is giving the group at Moe a real sense of belief. He’s strong on emphasising that we are a very good football side and that we’re going to be hard to beat no matter who we’re playing, in what conditions and wherever we are.”

Leigh is mindful that he and Myles, along with the other band of talented recruits, have come to Moe with the mission to end the club’s 58-year senior premiership drought. “We’re here for one reason and that is to win a flag. That was really clear from the first meeting. It’s been a long wait for the club since 1967 and their goal is to win the premiership this year,” he acknowledges.

At the same time, they understand it might take time to bring a game plan together but there is still an expectation of success. “With a new coach and a whole heap of new recruits, the opposition teams have no information on us, which has been an advantage in the early part of the year so far. It’s been a great start, and things are looking really promising but we won’t be falling into the trap of underestimating anyone. There’s still a lot of football to be played this season.” gl