25 years of glory: Launceston legends on their secrets to success
Launceston FC will celebrate 25 years of success by naming its best team of the 2000s on Saturday. Key Blues figures reflect on their seven flags of that era, including two historic ‘three peats’.
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Chris Savage describes first walking into Launceston Football Club as a 15-year-old in 2003 as a “bloody eye opener”.
After the Blues had meandered through a few tough seasons, Adam Sanders had just taken over as coach and immediately started instilling a tougher and disciplined mindset into the squad.
The Blues would go on to win three straight NTFL flags from 2006-08, before the first year of the State League in 2009.
It broke a 21-year flag drought after Sanders’ uncle, Kerry, coached them to victory in 1985.
“That (Sanders’ arrival) was when the whole place got turned on its head and I didn’t know any different,” Savage, a former captain and current bench coach, said.
“The way we trained and the effort you had to put in, training three times a week. Us young blokes were just starting our building apprenticeships and things like that. You go to school then to work in the middle of winter and then we get absolutely flogged at training, it was a bloody eye opener.
“It was an intimidating place, we were full-on pups and we were playing against men. One
“It was a different ball game. We went two or three years at under 18 level where we didn’t lose a game, then into senior football against some ex-AFL players.”
Savage said Sander’s tough standards were difficult at the time, but in hindsight helped the team eventually enjoy sustained success.
He wasn’t at the club for its three straight NTFL flags, but returned to be part of the 2011 State League premiership side.
“I know he probably rubbed a few guys up the long way with how hard he was and how professional they had to be,” he said.
“But I guarantee you if you asked any of those blokes now, they’d tip their hat to ‘Sando’.
“Not just footy but for a lot of things, to succeed you have to put the hard yards in and you can take that into life.”
“Even the way guys were eating, their body shapes changed. The kids carrying a bit of weight changed into strong, 25 year old men, and that changed the club.
Sanders, father of Western Bulldogs star Ryley, said effectively having no choice but to blood youngsters was fate.
“I got there at the end of 2002 and a lot of people were ready for a change, a harder edge maybe,” he said.
“It certainly wasn’t a destination club, we tried to recruit a lot of players but no one was keen to come.
“It forced me to go with the young players, which was a godsend as a lot of the local junior players ended up making up the nucleus of the premiership teams.
“Our 2006 team had about 15 players who came through our junior program. It was a home grown team.
“We went OK the first year I was there, we made the finals and had a sustained period of the guys upholding the standards.”
Sanders also played his first four years as coach, and the 2006 grand final win over Devonport was his last game.
“I was keen to get right into coaching and I thought we had too many old blokes, so I fell on my sword,” he said.
“I really enjoyed my footy playing there the first four years. I was going into my early thirties and a lot of those guys were ten years younger, it was good to lead the way for them.
“The thing I cherish now is I’m still very close to a lot of the boys and we still catch up regularly.”
2011: Kings of the state
The Blues won all 18 regular season games with a percentage of 258.
A State League flag looked at their mercy, but Burnie issued a wake-up call with a 23-point semi final win.
It forced Launceston to qualify for the grand final by beating Clarence in the prelim. They learned from their mistakes in the decider against the Dockers, winning by 44 points.
“Against Clarence, we were very confident a lot of areas we didn’t hit against Burnie we’d tightened up,” Savage said.
“If we won that first final and gone straight through to the grand final, would we have lost it?I’d say no.
“But losing the semi was a shot across the bow and things changed. We didn’t work hard to have such a good year and not win a grand final.”
Scott Stephens, now club president, played in the 2006-08 and 2011 flags, the latter under coach Anthony Taylor.
“It was about ensuring when Adam left we didn’t drop our standards, that’s where Anthony Taylor filled that void,” Stephens said.
“In 2011 we had some good young kids come through like a young Jesse Lonergan, a young Jackson Thurlow, young Jordan Harris, a young Josh Woolley, they were the drivers around us wining the first TSL premiership in 2011.
“My age group were getting towards the end of or careers and we need some young blood with fast legs to rejuvenate us, which they did.”
Sonny Whiting kicked over 500 senior goals for Launceston, and has returned to play reserves this year.
He remembers the 2011 grand final as the biggest moment of his career.
“It was a massive event and something I’d never be a part of before,” he said.
“The cup got presented off a helicopter and there was about 6000 people there. It’s something that stays in my memory because it’s bigger than anything I’d been a part of with the theatre of it.”
A second ‘three peat’
Hinds, in his first year as senior coach, was handed his senior debut aged 15 by Stephens when he was coach from 2014-15.
“When we won those flags I wasn’t a little shit, but I was about having fun and I took the piss a bit,” he said.
“I probably wouldn’t want to coach my younger self, to be honest. But you’ve got to be having fun to play your best footy.”
One of a host of young players coming through, his first few years were lean, but the group penchant to stick together was rewarded with three straight flags from 2020-22 under Mitch Thorp.
“The 2020 one was probably the most special out of them all,” Hinds said.
“By that stage we were still pretty young, but a lot of us had go to that 50 odd senior game mark.
“To play in that first one with a group of mates who had been through the ringer... a few of us were there when we won two games in a season and were a punching bag for North Launnie, so to beat them was awesome.
“To follow on with the next couple (of flags) was credit to everyone for sticking around, and we knew we had a good window for success.
“Because we were so young we were just happy to be playing senior footy, but were smart enough to realise it (losing) doesn’t last forever.
“How close we were as a group was very underrated.”
Jay Blackberry, who also played in all three flags, is now part of South Launceston’s coaching staff.
He will be in the awkward situation of trying to help the Bulldogs to victory over the Blues at Windsor Park, before the hosts celebrate their 150th birthday.
“We had to get out of bad habits and blood some youth and talent, instead of possibly finding some short term success with others,” he said.
“We knew it might not come straight away, but long term these guys were our future and that certainly paid off again.
“I’m lucky to probably call two football clubs my home club. I spent my whole childhood at Youngtown Oval, and was lucky to spend a big period of my senior football at Windsor Park. “To go into either change room, I can still walk in and see the friendships I built with the players, and those off the field who make the club tick, which is pretty special.”
TEAM OF THE 2000S SQUAD OF 50
Jay Blackberry, Joe Boyce, Jacob Boyd, Tim Bristow, Casey Brown, Will Campbell, Adam Derbyshire, Jason Edwards, Dan Ellis, Brian Finch Adrian Finch, Luke French, Bailey Gillow, Beau Green, Joe Groenewegen, Jobi Harper, Vince Hennessy, Jake Hinds, Miller Hodge, Jamieson House, Jordan Harris, Kurt McCabe, Luke McCabe, Geoff Mohr, Michael Musicka, Nathan O’Donoghue, Cale O’Keefe, Sam O’Keefe, Brodie Palfreyman, Sam Rundle, Dylan Riley, Adam Sanders, Brennan Savage, Chris Savage, Gene Savage, Fletcher Seymour, Corey Sheppard, Garry Shipton, Michael Sinclair, Jake Smith, Scott Stephens, Anthony Taylor, Brendan Taylor, Mitch Thorp, Jackson Thurlow, Jack Tuthill, Ryan Tyrrell, Sonny Whiting, Josh Woolley, Alec Wright
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