Diamond Creek coach Andrew Tranquilli discusses plans after grand final loss
Picking up the pieces after a second straight NFNL Division 2 grand final loss, Diamond Creek coach Andrew Tranquilli has forecast off-season changes.
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Diamond Creek coach Andrew Tranquilli anticipates a mini rebuild for 2025.
The Creekers are picking up the pieces after a second straight NFNL Division 2 grand final defeat on Saturday.
The heart-breaking six-point loss to South Morang compounded by the reserves – after a one-loss season – also losing to the Lions.
Diamond Creek’s under-19s will run out in the Division 1 grand final on Saturday, hoping to bring some joy back to Coventry Oval.
Tranquilli said those youngsters would be given more senior opportunities next season.
“I’ve got no doubt there’ll be a fair shake-up of our list,” he said.
“It’s exciting, we’ve got these kids in the Division 1 19s grand final and they’re the future of the club.
“We’ve already started our list management and that’s where the attention is going before we start looking outside.
“We went into this year thinking, do we launch straight into it, and I think we’re still good enough to be competitive but there’ll be a bit of a rebuild and energy put into the kids.
“I would think there’ll be a change from what you saw on the weekend to Round 1 next year.”
Diamond Creek were only seven points down at the 20 minute mark of the third quarter but a match-defining four-goal blitz saw South Morang go to three-quarter-time 31 points up.
It would be 37 points when Josh D’Intinosante goalled early in the fourth.
Yet, the Creekers rallied and five unanswered goals had them within five points late in the game but – unlike the qualifying final three weeks prior – they couldn’t find the critical final goal.
Tranquilli lamented a sloppy second quarter, where the team kicked 2.7 and lapses that gifted South Morang momentum-turning goals.
“We definitely congratulate South Morang but internally, disappointingly, we didn’t come and play our best footy,” he said.
“That’s credit to South Morang, they did and put the pressure on, what hurt us was a couple of lapses that allowed them to get goals that hurt us big time.
“We executed last week, we thought ‘right, good, it’s in the system and we understand what sort of (forward) entries we want’ but that’s the voodoo of Preston I guess.
“Come the 20-minute mark of the third quarter I don’t think Morang had even scored a goal and, unfortunately, a tsunami of four goals in stoppage time.
“For some reason we took the foot off the gas … you’ve got to ride it out to the siren and they took advantage.”
Ben Major, Robby Noble, Brenton Keating, Tyler Barnes, Jett McLaughlan and Danyon Kambouris were named in the best.
DIV 1: MONTY SKIPPER TO BE GIVEN UNTIL FINAL MINUTE
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
DIV 2: SOUTH MORANG ROARS BACK TO TOP FLIGHT
Major, Barnes and Tom Baird all finished with two goals.
On Saturday, the under-19s go in underdogs against Heidelberg.
The Creekers won through with a 10-point win over North Heidelberg in the preliminary final.
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