Glenunga Rams ready to bounce back after 2023 grand final loss

Former North Melbourne and Central District defender Nathan Grima has backed his Glenunga Rams side to rebound after last season’s agonising division one grand final loss, despite losing a number of first team players.

Nathan Grima has backed his Glenunga side to bounce back after its agonising Adelaide Footy League division one grand final loss last season, taking blame for the defeat to Prince Alfred OC.

The Rams led at halftime of just their second div one big dance in club history before the Old Reds stormed home behind inspired performances by Chris Curran, Andrew Bradley, Jack Trengove and forward Tyson Brazel to win by 14 points.

Grima said he and his team had learned from the loss.

“I think it’s on me, it reflects on me more than it does on the players,” Grima said.

“We struggled a lot with back half movement when teams evened up the numbers in the middle last season and I think that’s what did us in during that game and in previous finals losses.

“We’ve had a really big focus on ball movement out of that back half this pre-season because we know we can’t go into another finals series if we’re going to play the same way.”

Glenunga coach Nathan Grima believes his side can bounce back in 2024. Picture: Max Stapleton

Glenunga has seen a number of key players depart after last season, including four of the club’s top six best and fairest, with Alex Haren, Beau Schwarze, D’Arcy Mitchell, Michael Bowden, Michael Wundke and Sam Smith all moving interstate or to other clubs.

In response to the departures, the Rams have held on to star players such as Keith Sims OAM Medallist Abe Davis and recruited Declan Fahey from North Adelaide, Jordan West from Woodville-West Torrens, Ollie Cheeseman from Unley and Charlie Pridham from Goodwood.

“We’ve targeted younger recruits this season because we’ve historically had some really good success with younger guys coming in and pushing the other guys,” Grima said.

“It was a really big list turnover by our standards compared to the previous three years I’ve been at the club but all of our guys are really accountable and train very hard.

“We’re happy with where we’re at and we know we’ve got a lot of talent coming through the ranks with the B Grade side making the grand final last year as well.”

Abe Davis in action in Glenunga’s losing 2023 grand final. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

With a number of big names including Scott Lycett, Joey Haines, Matt Rose, Lewis Johnston, Cam Shenton and Jesse White all entering division one in 2024, the competition looks as strong as ever.

While Grima knew the league would be hotly contested, he was positive his side could go deep again.

“When you’re in competitions as good as this, you need a good team and you need a bit of luck, but we definitely feel we can get better.

“We’ve improved every year so far and there are still a lot of things for us to work on, which is a positive.

“There’s a good chance if we get to finals we can do some damage.”