Newcomb won its first BFNL flag in 17 years with a 33-point defeat of Torquay in 2005
Two seasons after the club nearly folded, Newcomb won its first BFNL flag in 17 years. We take a look back at the drought-breaking title for the Power with a gallery from the big day.
It’s the story of the local footy club that went from a crisis meeting to a drought-breaking title in less than two years.
Back in late September, 2003, Newcomb was on the brink of collapse and reportedly $25,000 in debt.
Club president Bill Reid told this masthead at the time with other clubs pulling in more than $50,000 in sponsorship, the Power couldn’t manage a fifth of that figure.
However, it was also lacking people power.
“For the club to survive there needs to be dramatic turnaround in people’s willingness to get involved in the club,” Reid tellingly said, with a crisis meeting to be held in October of that year.
Reid, who reportedly arrived at Grinter Reserve through a similar crisis meeting a couple of years prior, would eventually walk away from his post a weeks later.
Fortunately, more than 50 people attended that snap meeting at season’s end in 03, which brought in crucial fresh blood, and nearly 20 years on, ex-Power prolific ball-winner Adrian Saltalamacchia believed Reid had done all he could.
“He tried his best for two or three years to stabilise and get the club moving forward, but it was almost a lone hand,” Saltalamacchia said.
“He was spent by the time that end of 2003 came around.”
However, the Power were able to make some important off-field decisions which ultimately shored up the club for future success: bringing in new volunteers, reshaping the committee, strengthening its recruiting and the appointment of a non-playing coach in former interleague mentor Simon Sutterby from East Geelong on a five-year tenure.
Saltalamacchia had stepped down as playing coach at the end of a four-win 2003 season, seeing the need for an off-field mentor.
“We were struggling, we didn’t have a lot of depth,” Saltalamacchia said on Thursday morning.
“A few people doing everything, which was really draining.
“We made the call to look for a non-playing coach, and to try to get more people on board.”
For Saltalamacchia, it wasn’t a tough decision.
“I don’t know whether I would have stepped down for another playing coach,” he clarified.
“The group needed someone who could support them off the ground ... have discussions with them when they’re rotating on and off the ground.
“I needed to focus on playing good footy for the team with where they were at.”
The Power also recruited smartly, resulting in a rise up the ladder in 04 to just miss finals.
Maintaining the majority of its squad from the past two seasons, the club would add “exceptional” ruck talent in the six foot 10 big man James Walker and Mark Stewart (St Albans) as playing assistant, key defender Dan Matthews (Belmont) while former Power juniors Jason and Bruce Drake returned.
“Our ruck stocks were exceptional for a local league with those two,” he said of Walker and Stewart.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Luke McLean from East Geelong would also prove to be pivotal later down the track, bolstering the midfield, along with his good friend, Mark Buckingham.
“With the top up of the recruits, it made us stronger and stronger,” he said.
“As the year progressed, we just got stronger and stronger as we grew together.”
Looking back, Saltalamacchia thought Sutterby, father of Ammos champ Blake, brought strong communication skills and an ability to build relationships, working closely with a match committee comprised of mostly ex-Newcomb players.
And two seasons later, the Power would go from the abyss to ultimate success, recording its fifth BFNL flag in a 33-point victory over Torquay at Drysdale Recreation Reserve.
Winning 15.18 (108) to Torquay’s 11.9 (75), it was the Power’s first premiership since 1988, on the back of one of its best regular seasons in the club’s history — winning its first 13 matches of 2005.
Meanwhile, for Torquay, first year coach and the league’s leading goalkicker, Adam Skrobalak, 26, had lifted the Tigers from seventh place the previous season, only to break his left arm in a week two finals win against Anglesea by 13 points.
He would consider using a rugby-style guard for protection, but ultimately didn’t get up.
That September afternoon back in 2005, the Tigers were a force through the grades with their reserves and under-18s also qualifying for the big dance.
And in the seniors, the ledger had been one apiece during the regular season, with the Tigers coming from six goals down in the final round to win by three points.
Saltalamacchia felt the team had hit a sweet spot of quiet confidence by grand final week, having beaten ladder leaders the Ammos – gunning for their third consecutive grand final appearance – by 37 points in a second semi final, allowing for a week off.
“We were quite confident playing anyone, we were playing quite good footy,” he said.
“Confident without being over the top.”
He thought a decision to spend its Saturday off by training at almost game-like intensity was a winning move.
“I think that was a wise call, we did risk a little bit of injury going that flat out on the Saturday ... (but) we needed to keep our momentum going,” he said.
Saltalamacchia would prove to be instrumental in the win as the Power took a 21-point lead at the first break after an anticlimactic start, taking 13 minutes for the first major.
The second term would be a high-scoring affair with the Power producing 6.4 — five unanswered majors coming in less than 10 minutes.
However, the Tigers would ultimately respond with five of six goals before the rain began to tumble in the third.
From there, the Power would answer every Tiger challenge.
Saltalamacchia never felt the game was in hand until late, with the margin remaining relatively close thoughout.
“I didn’t think we won the game until the last few minutes to be honest,” he said.
“Torquay played a really strong game, they had some pretty solid plans against us as a team.
“But our form at the time was a little bit too strong.
“They just kept there abouts, we couldn’t put them away. It was a challenging game.”
Sutterby would later tell this masthead that Saltalamacchia, then 31, was probably best on ground.
However, that award would go to new recruit and best and fairest winner, 25-year-old ex-Peel Thunder player Luke McLean who took home the VCFL medal for his three majors and plenty of possessions.
Looking back Saltalamacchia was pleased with his personal contributions.
“I think the difference between Luke and myself, he ended up with three goals,” he said.
“It was at a pretty important time in the game that he kicked his three, and that might have swayed the selection panel.”
Saltalamacchia said the celebrations were “pretty solid”, with Sutterby recalling the players being introduced on stage to a clubhouse chock-full of supporters.
“I was actually talking to ‘Sutters’ a couple of nights ago,” he said.
“(He said) the back of the rooms was amazing ... they were hanging from the rafters.
“It was such a good feeling and so good to see so many people there supporting.
“Especially coming from where we came from. Being a playing coach a couple of years prior, my thoughts during that time was just to make it a place where people wanted to hang around.”
Twenty years on, Saltalamacchia is looking forward to catching up with some former teammates on Saturday for the club’s official 20-year celebrations, as the Power face Barwon Heads at Grinter Reserve.
He hopes it will help inspire the next generation of Power players who have dropped their past 11 games after a promising start to 2025.
“We’re also trying to make a connection with the current squad,” he said.
“We can see with the current squad that they’re well-coached and moving in the right direction as well.
“If we can make a connection about our journey with what they’re going through, hopefully we can get behind them as they try to make that transition into a finals team.”
All the photos from the 2005 BFNL grand final
Originally published as Newcomb won its first BFNL flag in 17 years with a 33-point defeat of Torquay in 2005
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