Is this Gallio’s Saints’ time? Shades of 1984 as Millicent chases its first premiership in 34 years in the Western Border League
THERE are shades of Millicent’s glorious 1984 premiership side in the Clint Gallio-led Saints team chasing this year’s Western Border Football League flag on Saturday. And they are riding on the support of the entire South-East town.
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EVERYBODY in the bush seems to have a theory on droughts: how long they will last, signs that they are about to break and reflections of how things have played out in the past.
It is no different in Millicent, a picturesque town in the state’s South-East, where the Saints are chasing their first Western Border Football League flag since 1984.
There is hope again.
After a long struggle, the club started making inroads last season, in the first year under playing coach Clint Gallio, and on the back of its 110-year anniversary and new club rooms there is a fresh sense of positivity about the Saints.
The Sants face East Gambier, the reigning premier, in Saturday’s WBFL grand final and the themes from 1984 suggest the whole township could be celebrating this weekend.
Like back then, the club came from a long way back, managed a quick rebuild and was then in a position to have a tilt at the flag.
Like back then, the club found has its way back to its community; almost all of the players have strong links to Millicent and are daring to believe it is finally their year.
The remaining old-timers from 1984 and the current mob have bonded on the eve of the grand final, which will be played at Mount Gambier’s McDonald Park on Saturday.
Craig Tunkin, the club’s president, said it had been a slow and gradual burn for the club to put itself in a position to break the 34-yeare drought.
“The team’s made up of pretty much all locals, guys who have played a lot of junior footy here,” Tunkin said. “We’ve had a couple of blokes coming back from Adelaide but they’re ex-junior players.
“We put new clubrooms in a couple of years and have done a huge amount of infrastructural work.
“We put a lot of work into our juniors, which has paid dividends for us.
“A lot of people have been working for a lot of years to make this happen; we’ve tried a lot of different strategies.”
Much of the club’s turnaround had been put down to Gallio, from when he and a raft of recruits arrived for the summer ahead of the 2017 season. It also has the league’s best and fairest, Mail Medallist Tom Hutchesson, at its disposal for the grand final.
Those on the sidelines noted bigger numbers on the track, more emphasis on training than the social side of it and a belief that — along with the new clubrooms — the Saints were being rebuilt.
Gallio said it had taken him no time to settle in at Millicent.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve found is the commitment,” Gallio said. “From training to recovery, looking after injury and sticking to how we know we’ve got to play.
“Last year, new coach and a couple of new players coming in, it was a building year and we learnt a lot.
“The feeling among the group is a lot different this year, even around the town.
“People you talk to when you’re working or just people in the street wishing you luck.
“It’s been a long time, not just for the club but for the town.”
The change in attitude hasn’t been lost on the heroes of 1984, many of whom will be there to try to will the Saints over the line on Saturday.
Renato Verbena, who was just a young lad in ‘84, has remained close to the football and netball club and had also noted similarities between the two sides.
Just like back then, the team had the right mix this season — a few seasoned heads and the sprightly legs of those with most of their football careers ahead of them.
“There’s a similarity in just the blend they’ve got at the moment,” Verbena said. “When we played back in ‘84, there were two or three stalwarts of the club and I was just 20 at the time, had only played two years and was probably lucky.”
Norm Facey, the president back in 1984, likes to stay in the background these days.
He describes himself as the one in the corner of the bar, supportive but quiet and delighted for a new generation to have some success.
But he spoke for all of those who had success the last time the Saints won a flag on the eve of the grand final.
“It’s been a long time and all the boys like coming back,” Facey said. “But you’d like to celebrate premierships a bit more, don’t you?
“In ‘82 we were that bad we lost a wooden spoon by percentage, that’s how well we were going then.
“But in ‘83 we played in the grand final but got beat.
“I remember walking out of the change rooms and somebody said, ‘that was a good game, Norm, you’d be proud of it.
“‘Proud of it — we lost to East,’ I said, but not in those words — you get a rough idea.
“But I understood what they meant.
“The following year it was more of a relief than celebration of victory. It was the first one in 28 years and we won by 28 points.”
And again, Facey can feel the nerves.
“Young Clint Gallio is a good young player and he’s got all the young players back training, which was a little bit flippant before.
“And the young president, young Craig, deserves everything he gets because he’s put a hell of a lot of work into the club.
“I’d like for him and young Clint and all the players … just for them I’d like to see them win it and so do all the old boys from ’84.”
