Sons of Erina Eagles 1991 winners looking to break 30-year premiership drought
The sons of four Erina legends have the opportunity to do something very special as they look to break a 30-year local footy drought.
Central Coast
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It has been 32 years since Erina last lifted a Central Coast Rugby League first grade premiership.
When they last won it back in September 1991, Bob Hawke was still the prime minister and the Penrith Panthers were weeks away from taking out their first NSWRL premiership.
Mark Besley, Mick Clements, Warren Douch and John Elliott were part of that legendary side that knocked over Woy Woy 30-8 in the grand final at Grahame Park and now, more than three decades later, four of their sons will be looking to break what is the longest drought in Central Coast first grade footy.
Zade Besley, Oliver Clements, Finn Douch and Toby Elliott will all line up for Erina on Sunday as the club takes on minor premiers Toukley in the big one at Woy Woy Oval.
There could well have been five sons involved, with Toby Elliott’s younger brother Jake on representative duty with the Sydney Roosters’ Jersey Flegg team.
And while any opportunity to win a grand final is a rare one, the enormity of the occasion hasn’t been lost on the current crop of young Eagles.
“It sort of sounds a bit surreal to think that that’s the opportunity in front of us,” said 22-year-old Toby Elliott.
“I know for our dads it would mean the world, they’re still involved in the club in a number of different ways since they’ve stopped playing and the mateship that they have from that competition win 32 years ago is still so strong – they’re still in contact and best mates with many of those players today.
“So I’m just grateful to think that we have an opportunity to do that exact same thing and it’s a bit surreal to think that the last time they won it was when they played all those years ago.”
It’s a similar sentiment for 20-year-old Finn Douch, who will line up at fullback in the decider.
“Obviously with dad playing at the club it really means a lot to me and every time I walk in I see his face up on the wall,” he said.
“It does mean a lot to play with the other four boys who had dads in that same side. Not so much the footy side of things but to see the kind of relationships dad has built out of footy through those experiences such as the grand final, it would mean the world to me to do the same.
“The boys are my good mates already but I feel like the bond would be even better if we won.”
Indeed, the fact that their dads were good mates has meant that the sons of the team of ‘91 have grown up as childhood friends.
“We’ve had family holidays together, we all grew up doing surf life saving, playing footy. I think there’s only two years between us all,” said Douch.
And while the players are determined to match their dads’ achievement, the fathers themselves are proud to see their boys running around together in the tricolours.
“That group, my teammates, managed to stay pretty close over the years, particularly Mick Clements and John Elliott, and our kids have done a lot of stuff together like nippers over the years,” said Finn’s father Warren Douch.
“They were in different age groups coming through the footy ranks but they’ve all got to seniors and are playing together, so they’re a close-knit group of friends.
“It’s great to see them there and hopefully they can take that title off us because I’m sick of saying that I was the last person to win a grand final at Erina,” he laughs.
“It’s time, 32 years is too long and it’ll be great if those boys can emulate what we did all those years ago.”
Indeed, casting his mind back to 1991, Douch senior was a 23-year-old centre when the Eagles came flying out of the blocks to blow Woy Woy away early in the match before running out 30-8 winners.
“Everything just clicked on the day, we were pretty convincing winners. Everything just went our way,” he said.
“But it was still a tough game, the scoreline didn’t really reflect the game. It was fast and physical but we just capitalised on everything and Woy Woy probably missed a few opportunities.”
And even beyond having some of the same names of the teamsheet, Douch says he sees some parallels between his premiership-winning team and the current Erina side.
“I played second grade the year before (in 1990) when the first grade team lost the grand final to Wyong,” he said.
“There were still a lot of same blokes in the team in ‘91. It’s a bit similar to Erina this year after they lost to Toukley last year. They say you’ve got to lose one to win one.”
And while none of them were old enough to watch their dads running around on the park, the class of 2023 nevertheless grew up with a healthy diet of going down to Erina Oval to watch the Eagles play on a Sunday afternoon.
“I was never around to see dad play but I was lucky enough that he’d take me down to watch those first grade teams throughout the 2000s,” says Douch. “It was like a dream to play for Erina first grade, more than it was to play NRL.”
Elliott agrees: “I’ve got a lot of fond memories of always being down at the oval on Erina home games as a kid.
“We hardly watched the game but we’d be bashing each other over on the other field, pretending we were the local first graders, people like Shane McFadden, Joel Frazer, who I’ve been lucky enough to play with, and Joel’s still in the current side.
“So there are a lot of fond memories as a kid going down to the oval and watching the first graders with dad.”
The Eagles will go into Sunday’s decider with plenty of confidence, having played some sparkling attacking football all season and getting the better of their grand final opponents in the major semi-final a fortnight ago.
And as the current team goes out to try and break the club’s three-decade drought, a large slice of the premiers of 1991 will be there cheering them on.
“We usually all stand together and bite our nails – it’s harder watching than it is playing, I think,” said Warren Douch.
“I was actually rostered on to work, so after they made the grand final a couple of weeks ago I had to go into work and try and swing a few days off so I could be there on grand final day. But we’ll all get together, sit there and hopefully they can do it and put us out of our misery.”
It’s something his son Finn is wholeheartedly hoping to make happen.
“It’d actually be nice to win so he can shut up saying that he was the last bloke to win it.”
Erina play Toukley in the Central Coast Rugby League first grade grand final on Sunday at 3:05pm at Woy Woy Oval.
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