Mitch Wallis, Marty Allison reveal what made Calder Cannons’ 2010 TAC Cup premiership team special
It was a golden time for the Calder Cannons, back-to-back premierships and a host of players drafted. Premiership captain Mitch Wallis and coach Marty Allison reveal what made the 2010 squad so special.
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Former Calder Cannons coach Marty Allison recalls when he knew he had something special on his hands entering the 2010 TAC Cup season.
“Any coach, no matter the sport, would want their players to drive the standards at training,” Allison told Leader.
“That’s generally achievable at the elite level – national teams or the Olympics – but these were 18-year-olds and they were picking the training drills, they would drive the meetings and come up with the tactics.
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“That was one of the few times as a coach I’ve felt this is a really special group.
“The starting midfield was the starting midfield for Vic Metro, so we knew that once school football commitments were over we were a chance to go deep into September.”
So it would prove as the Cannons claimed the premiership, backing up their 2009 triumph, and had 12 players from that squad end up on AFL lists.
It was a golden time for the under-18 powerhouse as it clinched a sixth title in 10 years, led by Mitch Wallis, Dion Prestia, Tom Liberatore and Cam Guthrie.
Having been without several key players due to private school and Vic Metro duties, Calder entered the finals in seventh.
The Cannons knocked off Eastern Ranges by 101 points in the wildcard round before easing past Geelong Falcons in the semi-final and minor premier Dandenong Stingrays in the preliminary final.
Wallis – who captained the 2010 team – recalls having absolute confidence his team could go all the way.
“I remember being really hungry for success in 2010 and I truly believed that the more success we had as a Cannons team the more players would get drafted,” he said.
“The aim was to make finals and when we assembled our best players to see how far we could go.
“I remember playing the last couple of rounds and how quickly we got momentum because we did all buy in, we enjoyed some big wins, and then the ultimate success of a premiership.”
Inspired by Wallis’ 47-disposal man-of-the-match performance, Calder would triumph by 58 points in a blowout.
But Wallis credited another future AFL star’s shutdown job on Gippsland’s star player and Morrish Medal winner as key to the grand final victory.
“I’m really close to Dyson Heppell and he was captain of the Gippsland Power and Cam Guthrie tagged him out of the game that day,” he said.
Guthrie would claim the Cannons best-and-fairest ahead of Prestia and along with Liberatore and Matthew Watson be named in the Team of the Year.
Prestia (Gold Coast) and Watson (Carlton) would end up top-10 draft picks, while Wallis, Guthrie, Liberatore, Luke Mitchell and Jordan Schroder followed.
Wallis had no doubt several of his teammates were destined for big things.
“That 2010 team was full of stars … I think BT mentions it quite a lot on the TV, the ‘Calder Cannons football factory’,” he said.
“Luke Mitchell, he had a bad run with injuries and didn’t get a good crack at it, but I thought he was one of the best junior players I’ve ever come across.
“Dion had the athletic profile with speed, endurance and agility and he’s really come to the fore now as one of the best midfielders in the competition.
“Obviously my close mate in Tom Liberatore, he shone out as a junior and progressed rapidly when he entered the AFL ranks.”
Brandon Ellis, Tom Sheridan, Hal Hunter and Michael Talia played in the 2010 premiership as 17-year-olds, while Fraser Dale was also in the squad, and would be drafted the following year.
Unfortunately, not all make it to AFL level.
Allison believes there were several young players that were desperately unlucky not to be drafted.
“Tom Sullivan, the only knock on him was his height, but he had speed, endurance and was very competitive, “ he said.
“Alex McLeod I thought was stiff, Tommy O’Loughlin and Simon Caven were perhaps not quite mature at the time.
“I was a huge fan of Ned Daniher, brother of Darcy and Joe, he’s taller than both of them but only played football for probably two years before 2010. His sport was fencing and he came to us in 2009 and his development was almost vertical.
“David Meli was from PNG and you couldn’t tell which was his preferred foot, he kicked goals in the grand final from both sides.”
While COVID-19 means the club won’t be able to hold a reunion this year, Wallis is confident the players will find a way to reminisce.
“It would be great to catch up and reconnect with all those players, especially the players you haven’t touched base with for a number of years,” he said.
“Definitely in the AFL system, you come across them every now and then and you talk about the good old days and you keep a keen eye on how they’re travelling.”