SFNL: South Mornington wins premierships in both seniors and reserves
Amid the hysteria of a historic season, South Mornington understands the rarity of its accomplishment, as club president Lachlan Bell-Towers explains.
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Club president Lachlan Bell-Towers made sure to thank everyone.
He is fully aware years such as 2023 don’t happen often.
South Mornington capped off its simply dominant home-and-away season with the double premiership, saluting in both Division 4 seniors and reserves of the Southern league.
The Tigers finished with a combined 35-1 record across both grades with grand final triumphs over Dandenong (reserves) and Hampton (seniors) on Saturday.
Bell-Towers – in his first season as president – said a club can afford few hiccups if they’re to achieve the double.
“We had a bit of a chat about how proud we are of everyone there, it was a real club effort to get those two flags,” he said of the post-game.
“When something like that happens, pretty much everything has to go right.
“So all the little things that all the volunteers and parents do to help out actually make things like this possible.
“They’ve (older committee members) been letting me know that it’s incredibly rare, so we’re trying to enjoy it while we can.”
The premierships didn’t make the Tigers forget the problematic times.
“When I first got to the club about four years ago, we were getting pumped by 100, 150 points most games,” Bell-Towers said.
“To see four or five of those blokes that were then getting pumped winning a senior flag is something they wouldn’t have dreamt of back then.
“It’s pretty amazing.”
On their way to Division 3, Bell-Towers wants the club to continue its developing relationship with its junior entity to grow sustainable success.
“I think it’s big, winning premierships helps you get a bit of momentum but it’s only a part of it,” he said.
“You have to keep doing the right things.
“We’re building with our juniors and hoping to get a really strong relationship with there.
“We had them around on Saturday, a few of them come around and sung the song with us, it was pretty cool.”
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