Inverleigh Hawks change football attitude after another grand final loss

On the edge of a flag for several years, Inverleigh can only offer “minnimum wage” as it builds its squad for 2023.

Inverleigh fell just short to Bannockburn in the GDFL grand final last year. Picture: Mark Wilson

Inverleigh coach Adam Donohue has revealed the club’s tight salary cap is limiting the contender’s potential spending on new prospective recruits.

The Hawks brought in former Newcomb star James Hussey, who recently won a league best-and-fairest medal in the Hampden Football League, as well as Mitch Bartlett, Brayden Warren, Josh Pethybridge and Lewis Delorenzo.

James Hussey (left) is headed to Inverleigh. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

But Donohue said the club would pull back on new signings for 2023.

“We haven’t gone actively to try to recruit anyone else, there’s not really many guys on our radar,” he said.

“Given we signed pretty much everyone, we’re pretty tight on the salary cap as it is, so anyone we do get has to come in just above minimum wage.

“But we’re still happy with what we’ve got, we’ll leave some points spare just in case we get a couple of other inklings closer to the year starting.”

Inverleigh finished on top of the GDFL ladder in 2022 and progressed comfortably through to the grand final, but fell on the final hurdle for the third time in four seasons, losing to Bannockburn.

Reece Conca has signed with GDFL club Bannockburn. Picture: Bannockburn Football Netball Club

While the Hawks added more talent to their best 22, as well as more depth, Bannockburn has also been proactive in signing former AFL player Reece Conca.

Donohue said the retention of almost the entire squad meant the Hawks had points to spend on players if they wanted to chase new recruits.

“We’ve got points, we had nine or 10 players worth points last year so everyone drops a point,” he said.

“Which means we’ve got the room for another two or three players.

“Hussey and Warren in particular were worth four and three points, you lock them away and then we’ve probably got the room for three three-pointers, or a four and a three, or something like that.

“There’s no real rush, we’re pretty happy to retain pretty much everyone at this stage and we’ll see what happens when we get back into it.”

Hawks take on new attitude to shrug off pain

Inverleigh coach Adam Donohue is hopeful a change in the club’s approach to football will help his side manage expectations throughout the course of the GDFL season.

The Hawks suffered another grand final loss, this time to Bannockburn, making it three season decider losses in the past four seasons.

Donohue said the club enjoyed a lighter December load than usual, with a plan to ramp up pre-season when training resumes next week.

“For more than half a dozen of them that was their third grand final loss, so I wanted to give everyone a mental break and help everyone be able to come back fresh for a tough two month block,” he said.

“We also went deep into finals, that obviously plays a bit of a part as well, I’ve found previously that this group is pretty committed, most of them do most of the sessions.

Donohue said the club enjoyed a lighter December load than usual, with a plan to ramp up pre-season when training resumes next week. Picture: Mark Wilson

“It’s a pretty long nine or 10 months, so I thought I’d give them a bit of a freshen up, you can’t do nothing before Christmas but those three sessions weren’t hard work.

“They were more about working on slight tactic changes, we went through a few little structure changes and some team discipline stuff.

“Hopefully they treat it like they haven’t really come back from a mind point of view, they’ve been given the word that when they come back in mid-January they have to come back in reasonable shape, but the two or three months we do are going to be pretty hard.”

The Hawks enjoyed a successful recruiting drive, adding former Newcomb star James Hussey to the fold.

Donohue said he wanted to temper expectations on the season, instead trying to get the group to enjoy the present.

“Last year I would’ve said that the grand final berth was the expectation, but I think we’re going away from the end result and treating it in the old cliche way of a week at a time,” he said.

Dalton Grundell in the GDFL grand final. Picture: Mark Wilson

“We’ve picked up two senior players and lost one, which probably suggests we’re going to be around the mark, but you also don’t know what everyone else is doing.

“People keep looking too far forward and aren’t too worried about the present, so we’re going to really focus and hone in on each week and we’ll deal with what’s happening in front of us.

“If we make it to a grand final then that’s great, if we don’t then so be it, but it’s trying to live in the moment and enjoy the moment, rather than getting to pre-season and start thinking about finals when it’s so far away.

“That’s our change of mindset going forward.”

Originally published as Inverleigh Hawks change football attitude after another grand final loss