MPNFL: Tyabb reappoints coach Aaron Pacey for the 2021 season
Tyabb coach Aaron Pacey says the Yabbies have everything in place to end their barren finals absence in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.
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Tyabb coach Aaron Pacey isn’t one for looking back but he does know it’s “a bloody long time’’ since the Yabbies have played finals.
“I had it written down somewhere,’’ he said.
“I’m pretty sure they won the grand final in 2000 and played (finals) the following year, and then that was it.’’
Pacey, who has been reappointed for a fourth season, said Tyabb’s current playing group was well and truly capable of ending the club’s two-decade finals drought.
He felt the Yabbies were well equipped this year before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the season.
Tyabb had recruited strongly in the off-season, gaining Greensborough pair Luke Stanton and Josh Riddle, a package of Pines players including Harley Parker, Rhys Chalkley, Jean Bezzene and Jamie Messina and Chelsea Heights players Damian Plane and Zach Caccaviello.
“That was why it was such a kick in the guts, it’s like we’ve finally got it all together and we’re ready to shape up and have a crack at it and it all gets pulled out from under us,’’ Pacey said.
“That’s life sometimes.’’
Big things were expected from Stanton, a former Carlton rookie and cousin of Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli.
Stanton’s former Greensborough teammate Riddle was a late recruit.
Pacey said former Pines players Parker, Chalkley, Bezzene, Plane and Messina had given the Yabbies a spark, and former MPNFL Division 1 league medal winner Messina had been “massive, from not just a playing perspective, but also coaching’’.
Pacey was appointed Tyabb coach in late 2017 after captaining Skye in Southern league for eight seasons.
The Yabbies had won only two games in four seasons before he took over.
In his first season in charge, Pacey improved Tyabb markedly, guiding the Yabbies to six wins, including victories over Chelsea and Somerville.
The Yabbies had four wins in 2019.
“Coming across from Southern was an eye opener, a really different sort of a landscape, the league, there’s a vast comparison there,’’ he said.
“We’ve learnt a lot.
“Obviously the first year was really good, we had a pretty good return on wins and losses and the second year, the expectation might have got to us a little bit, not understanding exactly how we handle it.
“And this year we had picked up a couple of guys and it looked like it was going to be pretty bloody rosy, pretty exciting and unfortunately the rug got pulled out from under our feet.’’
He added:
“We’ve done all the work now, we’re beginning to understand what it’s all about. It’s a pretty young group...and the recruits are only adding extra knowledge. We’re hoping we can catch up to the likes of the Somervilles, the Langwarrins, the Chelseas, Karingal as well.’’
Pacey said a season off would rejuvenate players.
“Speaking to all the players — it’s not great that we miss out on footy — but it’s almost been a positive,’’ he said.
“I feel like everyone you speak to has said it’s nice to be able to enjoy the other side of life...slow down and smell the roses.’’
Tyabb’s coaching group includes assistants Matt Haverfield, Messina and Paul Dalton.
“This coaching group had put in a heap of work in preparation for season 2020, bringing in new players, strategies and training standards,’’ Tyabb said in a statement.
“They have laid the foundations for our club to take the next step in 2021.’’
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