Waratah playing-coach Udara Weerasinghe says three teammates can play for Victoria, and why his playing days might come to a halt

WARATAH player-coach Udara Weerasinghe’s glowing praise for grand final opponents Palmerston, why he thinks three of his teammates can play for Victoria and why his playing days might be coming to a halt.

Waratah’s 2020 Darwin Premier Grade premiership winning player-coach Udara Weerasinghe believes three of his teammates are capable of playing for Victoria. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

WARATAH player-coach Udara Weerasinghe said his team had gone “from zero to heroes” before its 2020 Darwin Premier Grade triumph over Palmerston Sunday.

And he has put the Power in the same bracket.

The Warriors were too good for their rebuilding opponents in the premiership decider, winning by 94 runs.

But the classy allrounder – who took 4-29 with his offspinner in the game – said the Power was set for plenty of success in future years.

“Palmerston is one of the best clubs in the Territory. They’ve won so many flags and produced so many good cricketers,” Weerasinghe told the NT News.

“From where we were 12 months ago we’ve really turned things around and become competitive again.

“But Palmerston has done the same thing. Their captain Alex Bleakley is a true local hero, and so are Robbie van der Meulen and Kieran Toner.

“They are NT representatives our younger players can look up to and see everything they’ve achieved in the game.”

It has been well documented how close the Waratah club was to collapse 12 months ago, before Weerasinghe and club president Simon Matthias played key roles in its re-emergence. The two linked up in just February, with Weerasinghe bringing across a big contingent of Ceylon Warriors players.

And it was instant success from there, the Red Caps winning the CDU Top End T20 in June, before dropping just two games on its way to Premier Grade glory.

“The club was broke and people were making up rubbish stories about us,” Weerasinghe said.

“We had no money but we worked very hard on building our sponsorship base.

“Lots of people brought forward their knowledge and experience.”

Weerasinghe believes James Seymour (the competition’s leading scorer with 574 runs), Isaac Conway (521 runs) and 18-year-old star of the final and under-19 Victorian squad member Ashley Chandrasinghe (61 off 77 balls) are all good enough to play senior cricket for Victoria.

“I hope the Victoria under-19s use Ashley as much as they can this summer,” Weerasinghe said.

“He has the potential and the temperament to play for Australia. He showed his massive potential by standing up for us in a grand final.

“He’s a great example for all our other talented young players out there to never give up, and to keep fighting to achieve your goals.

“Jimmy and Isaac are also good enough to play first-class cricket.”

Weerasinghe, 38, is now a two-time Premier Grade champion. He is a past winner with Palmerston.

He has enjoyed a brilliant Top End playing career, but that could soon be coming to a close.

“I don’t know – it might be time to give our younger players at Waratah a go,” he said.

“We’ll see how I go. Life always throws unexpected challenges at you anyway, and you can never tell what’s around the corner.

“I’ll start devoting more time to my coaching than my playing commitments.

“I’ve also got a mentoring role at St John’s Catholic College and next year I’d like to do a little bit more with cricket coaching there.

“The school has given me massive support without even knowing, and I’d like to thank them.

“On a lot of occasions I’ve been released from my work for cricket. They’ve been very understanding of that.”