BPCA star Ty Norman will coach Anglesea for the next two seasons

An Anglesea stalwart has stepped up to steer the club for the second time, as two of the Roos’ best players return to the GCA.

Anglesea keeper Tyron Norman runs out Barwon Heads’ Daniel Donaldson in the BPCA semi-final. Picture: Mark Wilson

It was around 2.30am when Anglesea champion Ty Norman’s new vision for the club began to emerge.

The Lara Secondary College teacher told this masthead, following a disappointing 2024-25 A1 campaign, he had discussions with a few GCA clubs about a potential shift.

Meanwhile, the esteemed Bryan Thomas had stepped down as the Roos’ senior mentor the day after a semi-final loss to Barwon Heads, and Anglesea had begun the process to find a replacement.

“I met with a few clubs in the GCA, had a good chat with them then left my last conversation with Anglesea to see where things were,” Norman said about possibly taking on the job for a second time.

“Spontaneously, after a conversation with Dyl Taylor, I woke up at about 2.30 in the morning. “Next minute I’m putting this proposal of an idea (together) to put to the club to see whether they would get on board with it.

“I’ve woken up, I can’t sleep, I may as well put it all down (in writing).”

Ty Norman after his 142 against Barrabool. Picture: Anglesea Cricket Club.

The Armstrong Creek-based Norman eventually decided to steer the club into a new era, and look to keep the remaining squad together and develop some periphery players, with Ollie and Will Huby returning to the GCA after two seasons with the Roos.

Ollie, who arrived from St Joseph’s, took 30 wickets during his tenure while Will made 390 runs after crossing from Highton.

Leading bowler Darcy Elliott left after the previous season for Highton — one of the clubs this masthead understands Norman could have ended up at.

He said about six core Roos had recommitted for 25-26 under his stewardship, with a further few still “sitting on the fence” about their future.

“I’m probably two months behind where I need to be in terms of if any recruiting’s going to occur,” he said.

“Trying to get everyone on board that was there last year, that’s always going to be a tough ask.

“If they’re looking to challenge themselves, cricket-wise, I’m not going to hold it against them going into town.

“Ideally, I want the support from them to stay at the club which I think they’re coming around to.

Norman said Tom Beasley would play a key role helping develop the next wave of juniors coming through. Picture: Anglesea Cricket Club

“There’s plenty of water to go under a couple of bridges there.”

Norman said that early morning blueprint included three main points: a different looking training schedule across three nights and a focus on junior development assisted by the likes of Tom Beasley, Taylor and the man they recruited from Ocean Grove, Michael Thornton.

“Our club’s been built on a lot of juniors coming through the system, you look at our success, especially the last 10 years, the father-sons that we’ve had come through, they’ve all been juniors,” he said.

“We’ve recruited well to fill in the gaps.

“(Beasley, Thornton and Taylor are) all experienced very cricketers and very knowledgeable cricketers.”

While the Roos had a season to forget, with their president stepping down mid-season, senior coach 24 hours after a semi-final loss – Anglesea was reduced to 6-16 by Drysdale in a Round 14 loss – Thornton’s season was a huge positive.

After crossing from the Grubbers, he shared the Ray Menzies Medal with Armstrong Creek’s Clay Mulgrew, who has since joined South Barwon.

Anglesea's Michael Thornton shared the Ray Menzies Medal with Armstrong Creek’s Clay Mulgrew. Picture: Anglesea Cricket Club.

“It was a big move for him and he took it with both hands,” Norman said.

“(Thornton is) easily, in my eyes, one of the top five players in the BPCA, just with the damage he can do with the ball and bat.

“He’s an outrageously good fielder, too.

“I wasn’t surprised he could do that with opportunity.”

Taking over the reins for the first time in a decade, Norman said he called Thomas – now coaching Grovedale – a few days ago for a productive chat.

“I thanked him for the contribution he made to the club ... especially to me but also my family,” he said.

“When he came to the club, I would say we weren’t mature but we weren’t immature, a lot of our players, (they’re) very mature now.

“He proabably got us all to understand what our games are.

“The way he worked bringing everyone in the club to be an inclusive place, we’d train together with our women’s team for a good half-hour each Thursday night.

“They’re things that are still going to stick around at the club.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Bryan, I know he’ll do a good job at ‘Grovey’ as well.”

Norman said the core group was still “very capable”, saw improvement in the game of Ben Harcombe and looked to the likes of Tom Eskrigge and Luke Taylor as the future who would now get more opportunity.

Norman will coach the Roos for the second time. Picture: Alan Barber

“It’s about developing those younger guys to take the club to the next level,” he said.

“Having not to rely on guys like Mick (Thornton), and myself.”

Meanwhile, he said the Hubys had left with his blessing: “They came to Anglesea to find their love for cricket again, and I think they’re found that, hence why they’re looking to move back to the GCA.”

The more you talk to Norman, the more you can’t quite imagine him leaving Ellimatta Reserve.

“I’ve been an Anglesea person all my life,” he said.

“We haven’t had the success we’ve wanted to in the last couple of years.

“A few things have gone wrong there but that’s nothing to do with who was running the club or anything like that, we had injuries at the end of this season.

“And how the game played out against Barwon Heads, it didn’t allow us to get to the granny, we had to push the tempo a little bit.

“I’m really excited though ... doing it the second time around I’ve got a better grasp of what I can do.”

Originally published as BPCA star Ty Norman will coach Anglesea for the next two seasons