Adam Treloar: Collingwood star coaching Noble Park junior team

​IT’S a long way from Noble Park under-12s to the AFL, but Collingwood ​star Adam Treloar hasn’t forgotten his roots — and he’s determined to give back to the club that gave him his start.

IT’S a frightfully cold day and so windy that the stand of gum trees at Ross Reserve in Noble Park sways like Elvis.

When a parent notes the Noble Park under-12 team will be kicking with the breeze in the first quarter, a wag suggests it’s more like a hurricane.

It’s strong enough to prompt the Noble runner to put his hoodie up and his head down as he jogs across the Paddy O’Donoghue Oval.

MELBOURNE’S ICONIC FOOTY GROUNDS

Even the trains going past on the new sky rail seem to be doing it hard.

“Don’t do another hammy!’’ a Berwick supporter hollers as the runner, going at a leisurely pace, sets off.

The fellow in the fluorescent green top delivering the messages and attracting the hamstring crack?

Adam Treloar back at Noble Park juniors.

It’s Collingwood star Adam Treloar, the co-coach of the Noble Park team this year. He’s out injured, but putting in for his junior club.

The side plays in the South East Juniors on Sundays and Treloar’s AFL commitments sometimes prevent him from getting to games. But he’s hardly missed a training session, and his enthusiasm for the role is catching. Everything is done with an easy smile. He calls it a “rewarding feeling to come back and be around the kids and help them where I can’’.

Ahead of the season Treloar approached Noble Park and said he would like a coaching position with the club that gave him his start in football.

Treloar playing for Noble Park in 2006. Picture: Tanya Fry

Noble was delighted, but unsurprised; whether he was at the Dandenong Stingrays or Greater Western Sydney or Collingwood, he always stayed in touch with the juniors and seniors.

Everyone says it: he’s never forgotten where he came from, nor the people who helped him as he grew up in Dandenong, raised by his devoted mother, Darlene.

Years ago Treloar told how his mum sometimes avoided driving during the week so she had enough petrol to get him to games on Sundays. Whenever she couldn’t, the club always made sure he had a lift.

“Noble Park were fantastic to me. They taught me how to play footy and were a massive part in me becoming an AFL player,’’ he said.

Treloar and Sam Lengyel at Noble Park. Picture: Paul Amy

“I didn’t have much growing up. Footy was sort of my get-out, what I really wanted to focus on. I played one game at North Dandenong and then had to stop because they didn’t have enough players in the age group. Me and my older brother came to Noble Park. I think I was seven. I didn’t always go to training, just because we had no way of getting there. They could have given me the flick, but they showed faith in me. As I got older and as I got better and they saw I had some ability, they invested their time in me. They wanted me in the rep teams and to get drafted. That’s exactly what happened.’’

Treloar asked to coach the under-12s because he won an under-12 best and fairest. And he decided to call on the help of his former coach Sam Lengyel, whom he calls “the biggest influence on life in terms of footy’’.

Lengyel had taken a break from coaching after guiding through the grades sides that included Treloar and two other future AFL-listed players, Alex Woodward and Piva Wright.

“I’d had six years off,’’ he said. “Young Adam rang me and said he wanted to get involved and could I help him out. Not a problem. He just wanted to give something back to the club. He thought the club gave a lot to him. And he loves the kids.’’

Treloar has teamed up with his old coach Sam Lengyel to mentor under-12s at Noble Park. Picture: Valeriu Campan

And they love him, to judge from last Sunday’s match against Berwick.

“You pumped mate? You ready to go?’’ he asks one player during the warm-up before the game.

The rooms haven’t changed since Treloar was at the club — in fact, Noble Park elders say they haven’t changed in 40 years — and it’s a squeeze, especially when he exchanges handballs with another youngster.

The players are skittish as they wait for the youth girls match to finish.

Noble Park is on top of the ladder but Treloar and Lengyel are expecting a tough match against the third-placed visitors. After the coaches ensure mouthguards are in and a young umpire checks on fingernails, the young Bulls form a guard of honour for 50-game player Henry Matthews.

Treloar (second from left, third row) with his Noble Park under-12 side in 2005. Collingwood VFL’s Alex Woodward is third from the left in the front row.

And quickly Noble Park is on top with the wind. Treloar trots out for a high-five after the team’s only girl, Lainie Krepp, snaps a goal.

Noble goes into halftime with a good lead, and Treloar holds up the whiteboard as Lengyel talks. A player interrupts him. “Can I play in the forward pocket this quarter?’’ Treloar breaks up as Lengyel replies, “Yes mate, that’s where we’ve put you’’.

Noble Park maintains its ascendancy in the second half and finishes with a 40-point win to stay on top of the ladder ahead of finals.

Treloar cannot hang around for the team song — he has to duck into town to watch the Collingwood Super Netball team — but in his absence it’s sung with gusto.

It’s a memorable day for Henry Matthews. Being a Collingwood supporter and being coached by Treloar, it’s a memorable season.

He’s a favourite at Collingwood as well as Noble Park. Picture: Michael Klein

Henry couldn’t believe it when his dad, Ty, told him the star Magpie would be coaching him this year.

When they met, Treloar asked him to name his favourite Collingwood player.

“I said to him, ‘You’ and Adam said, ‘No, be serious’. So I said again, ‘You’ and he said, ‘OK’,’’ Henry said.

Around Noble Park, the favourite son is a favourite to many.

“I don’t know about that,’’ Treloar said. “Maybe the club’s doing me a favour. It’s so much fun. I watch them train and I have a great laugh. I watch them play on the weekend and I have a bigger laugh.’’