Premier Cricket 2018-19: Essendon leading club championship standings with two games left in season
The turnaround at Windy Hill has been as stark as it has swift. From a battling club six years ago, Essendon is two rounds away from winning its first club championship since 1968.
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The turnaround at Windy Hill has been as stark as it has swift.
Six years after it finished ahead of only one of its rivals on the club championship table, Essendon is two rounds away from being crowned Premier Cricket’s best club.
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The Dons battled to consecutive 16th-placed finishes in the club championship in 2010-11 and 2011-12, before hitting a low point of 17th in 2012-13.
That season was Premier Cricket legend Brendan Joyce’s first as coach, an appointment which has proved the start of Essendon’s resurgence.
The Bombers only finished outside the top 10 once in Joyce’s next four summers as coach, an indication of their improving depth and increased top-end talent.
“Huge credit needs to go to Brendan Joyce for his stint for five years,” current coach Mitch Johnstone said.
“He had a bit of a clean out and I was one of the victims of that.
“He restructured the on-field side of things and set a really high standard.
“Essendon has probably always had enough talent. It’s just a matter of doing the little things better for longer and Brendan was big on that.”
Essendon sits 54 points ahead of Carlton on the club championship standings with games against Casey-South Melbourne and Monash Tigers to come.
The Bombers have not topped the club championship since 1968, the year Bob Skilton won his third Brownlow Medal and Prime Minister Scott Morrison and pop icon Kylie Minogue were born.
“I think this is my sixth year, but the things you hear about the Essendon Cricket Club prior to that weren’t really nice,” opening batsman Aaron Ayre said.
“Joycey did a lot of hard work to turn the club around and get a little bit of that respect back. “Mitch is looking to continue on with that. It’s made a big difference.
“Clubs are hard thing to turn around.
“Once something becomes, not acceptable, but continues to happen, it takes something pretty drastic to change them.
“Full credit goes to, especially Joycey, and also Mitch, for being able to continue that in terms of the work they have done around the club to turn it around.”
Essendon’s firsts, seconds and fourths will feature in finals, with the First XI second on the ladder and targeting their first premiership since 1970.
“I think whenever you look at a club’s strength, it’s not only the First XI but also what is coming through underneath,” Ayre said.
“It’s no good if you have a good First XI if a lot of those players are going to be gone in a couple of years’ time and there’s nothing coming through underneath.
“It’s a really good place for the club to be in to be in that position and hopefully we can keep winning games of cricket and get ourselves over the line there.”
Johnstone said he rated the club championship as “a good indicator of club health”.
“There’s different perceptions on the importance of it,” he said.
“As a club coach, it’s something that’s a priority for us.”
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