Greensborough coach Matt Hyde discusses the club’s start to the NFNL Division 1 season
Greensborough coach Matt Hyde knows his side’s best is good enough but after dropping two games on the trot believes a mindset change is needed.
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This isn’t the way it was meant to go for Greensborough.
A heart-stopping Round 1 win over Hurstbridge has been followed by consecutive defeats – the latest a 27-point loss to old rival Eltham on Good Friday.
After a run to the NFNL Division 1 preliminary final last year and a couple of boom recruits, much was expected of the Borough this season.
Coach Matt Hyde would love to have been 3-0 but recognises teething issues are better dealt with now that the business end of the campaign.
“We’ve shown our best is really good but when we’re not, we’re susceptible,” Hyde said.
“From the glass-half-full point-of-view there’s some incredible kids making growth and we didn’t beat Hurstbridge at all last year, so to knock them off shows what we’re capable of.
“But the two games after, we’ve just had lapses, and it means we’ve been exposed.
“It’s good it’s happening at this stage of the year, we can learn, work and develop and find ways through it.
“To have three games, where he won, should have won or could have won, I’d like to think is a positive but to only have four points on the board shows we’ve got work to do.”
One of those impressive kids Hyde pointed to is Darcy Blakeley.
He is one of three recent under-19s graduates, along with James Grant and Marty Fitzgerald, to have played every match in the seniors so far this season, while former under-19s captain Kaeden Fox made his senior debut on Friday.
Hyde said Blakeley is showing he has a big future.
“Darce has only played a handful of senior game but he trained incredible well through the pre-season,” he said.
“His pressure is relentless and I’ve highlighted it to the playing group a couple of times – it’s what made us really good last year, when our pressure is enormous and people don’t have time to think.
“Darcy can go three, four, five times, he just doesn’t know when to give up.
“He’s playing as a pressure forward and running through the midfield, he works tirelessly to keep the ball in attack to get another opportunity and when he goes into the midfield, he’s fearless.
“There’s others knocking on the door too, a kid called Austin Dillon has been really unlucky, so there’s kids coming through that are getting the opportunities they deserve.”
On Friday, Greensborough ran into a fired up Eltham boasting ex-AFL star Mitch Robinson.
The Borough knocked off the Panthers in both encounters last season and came in heavy favourites.
However, Hyde said his players needed to change their mindsets and get back to basics after being overrun in the first half.
“After last year and making it to where we did, there’s been a transition from being the hunters to being the hunted,” he said.
“We’ve talked about it a little bit, being the underdogs every week with a group of kids and if you win, people say ‘well done’ but now expect things of you.
“It’s one thing to come in favourites but we’ve learnt quickly that being favourites doesn’t get you the W.
“Against South Morang, we have to go back to the idea of quarter-by-quarter, win this one and reset.”
Robinson finished the match with four goals.
Young gun Will McFawn, the Division 1 Under-19s league best-and-fairest winner in 2022, had the big job.
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“We could have done a little more for him, he’s used to playing on the Parker Heatleys, Patty Fitzgeralds and Joel Naylors of the world, whereas playing on Mitch Robinson is obviously different,” Hyde said.
“He’s a big-bodied midfielder that can go forward, his agility of phenomenal, which is different to someone like Naylor who’s just straight up and down at the ball.
“Will did a really good job, he just needed more support, he’ll learn a lot from playing on someone different and he’s got a huge future.”
Greensborough will look to bounce back against South Morang on Saturday.
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