‘Hoppy’ happy back in the land of the Giants

Josh Hopkins set aside personal glory in the Gippsland league to coach his junior club, Korumburra Bena. It’s been tough going but the Giants are playing with heart and again winning over the locals.

Josh Hopkins is using his premiership experience at Leongatha to steer Korumburra-Bena Giants to a brighter future.

Six grand finals.

Four premierships.

League representative.

Team-of-the-year selection.

Josh Hopkins could hardly have asked for more in his six-and-a-bit seasons with Leongatha in the Gippsland league.

“Really good club. Great club, and we had such a great run,’’ he says of the Parrots.

But, the pull of “home’’ stronger than the prospect of more success with the Gatha, Hopkins left last year to return to Korumburra-Bena Giants, taking on the senior coaching.

He was aware he would not exactly be walking into one of country football’s plum positions.

The past few seasons have been a battle for the Giants, who after a long affiliation with the old Alberton league joined West Gippsland in 2017.

“I took the job on knowing it wasn’t going to be easy, because they (Giants) have struggled for such a long time,’’ Hopkins, 28, says.

“It was one of those things where I could have stayed at Leongatha or gone back. Me leaving there (the Gatha) wasn’t going to leave as big a hole as what Korumburra was in. I thought I could use my services better somewhere else.’’

Josh Hopkins (right) at the Korumburra Bena huddle.

Korumburra-Bena had three wins last year. With a few rounds to go, it has three this season, and Hopkins is seeing possibilities for his team and the club.

Last week it knocked over Koo Wee Rup by one point after being three goals behind with 10 minutes to go.

“We’d only kicked four for the day. The conditions were absolutely horrid. But 12 months ago it would have all been over. We wouldn’t have had the grit and determination and the belief to continue to play,’’ he says.

“When the games are close it’s about winning the little moments. Everyone one of them has a huge impact. We’d talked about that the previous week after we got done by eight points against the Dusties. We reviewed it and the boys took a lot out of it. And seven days later we got the result. We’ve improved shitloads. Nothing against anyone who’d done it (coaching) before but they (the players) hadn’t had heaps of structure for a while. People had done it for 12 months and then moved on. I’ve been able to start from scratch in a way and slowly build.’’

Some seasoned recruits with success behind them have helped, including former Port Melbourne VFL key position player Guy Dickson.

Matthew Borschman and Kyle Brown also crossed from Leongatha.

Jordan Ceppi made the move from Moe and Ryan Gillis from Cora Lynn.

Josh Hopkins takes a shot for Korumburra Bena.

Hopkins has a team as green as the hills of South Gippsland; most of the players are under 22. The captain, Joel Cuman, is 21.

Hopkins’ own performances have been outstanding.

Last year Premier Data credited him with 61 possessions in a match.

“Just went my way that day,’’ he replies when his towering tally is mentioned.

When the Giants played Dusties earlier in the season, a supporter remarked that the coach was having a bad day if he didn’t get 30 touches. “Just racks it up,’’ he said.

Hopkins was an outstanding junior player for Korumburra-Bena (the clubs merged in 2001), winning the Under 16 and 18 best and fairests and playing in premierships with both teams.

He was a teenager when he made his senior debut for the club, where his father, Michael played and served as president for four years and his mother, Kim, was a netballer.

A desire to play at a higher level took him to Leongatha and the Gippsland league.

He fitted in comfortably and successfully.

“Every year I was there we made the grand final,’’ he says.

There were flags in 2017 under Beau Vernon, 2018 under Paul Carbis, and 2022 and ’23 under Trent McMicking.

Josh Hopkins gets a pat on the head after kicking a goal for the ‘Gatha in the 2022 grand final. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

McMicking says Hopkins was a fine contributor to his premiership teams, a “good leader, very vocal and passionate’’, a “ball of energy’’ and a classy player.

He also had firm views on tactics, a pointer to his coaching ambitions.

As he enjoyed team and personal achievements with the Parrots, Hopkins kept an eye on the Giants’ results. They often showed losses, a side fixed to the bottom few rungs of the ladder.

When officials contacted him during the 2023 season and mentioned the coaching position, he got thinking about his former club beyond the weekly scores.

“They were still struggling. The more I thought about it, the more I thought coaching was something I wanted to get into. I thought I saw the game OK.

“In the end I decided I could have more of an impact there rather than coast along at Leongatha.

“Personally – and I’ve said this to other people – I’d been so lucky and experienced so much winning that I should try to pass that on to the guys that needed it. Not in an arrogant way but I could have played on at Leongatha and won 15 games. While that was happening my home club would have been winning one or two or whatever.’’

Josh Hopkins and his big day out for the Giants.

When his appointment was finalised, Hopkins gathered up some drinks and nipped across the road to tell his neighbour, Leongatha president Mal Mackie.

Given that Hopkins would be a playing coach, McMicking told him to get a good bench in place and plenty of support around him. He knew the playing side of it would be the least of his problems.

*****

“We couldn’t be happier, to be quite honest,’’ Korumburra Bena president Ken Myors says of having Hopkins at the helm.

“He’s an absolute breath of fresh air and exactly what we needed. He’s a local boy and it was always our hope one day that we’d get a few of our boys back. It started with Josh and it’s starting pay some dividends. We’re seeing some steps forward. We’ve got better depth. Ladder-wise, we’re still finding it hard. But we’re turning the tide a little bit. Josh knows what it takes.’’

He says the Giants are playing a better brand of football and putting games into young players.

The president marvels at Hopkins’ ability to overcome a tag and win “quality possessions and effective possessions’’.

Josh Hopkins had premiership success four times over with the Parrots. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Myors – who has lived in Korumburra all his life – is in his third year in charge.

He took on the job because the club was unable to find a president and he didn’t want to see it disappear.

Myors hadn’t been involved since 2014, when his sons stopped playing and he and his wife wide decided to do some travel.

“I got a phone call from a mate of mine telling me about the plight of the club and they were having trouble finding a president and would I be interested. I thought about it for a while. Why not? I’ve got a grandson doing Auskick; I wanted him to play at the club I grew up in. It’s about a community and it’s about a town.’’

Hopkins sees Korumburra getting behind the club and enjoying the gradual improvement of the seniors, the resurgence of the reserves and the excellence of the A grade netballers.

“There’s a bit of interest in the place,’’ he says. “I think they can see the direction we’re trying to take in developing the young blokes. It was never going to be easy. But we’re having a crack.’’

A younger Josh Hopkins (left) effects a tackle on a Dalyston Magpies opponent during the Alberton FNL days in 2015. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The coach is showing the way. In Round 13 against Phillip Island he had 49 disposals and eight tackles.

Against Nar Nar Goon in Round 9 he had 39 possessions.

Against Dusties in Round 5 he also had 39.

Against Dalyston in Round 3 he had 40.

For all those numbers, he spotlights other leading players in the league: Mitch Hallahan and Kyle Hutchinson at Dalyston, Shane Savage and Piva Wright at Tooradin-Dalmore, James Munro at Cora-Lynn and Cam Pedersen at Phillip Island.

Mostly, he talks up his own players for their persistence and their loyalty.

“There are so many guys there who have stuck fat and done it pretty tough,’’ he says. They keep turning up every Tuesday and Thursday. I take my hat off to them. One of my best mates (Zach Walker) just played his 150th game and he thinks he hasn’t won more than 30 times in that 150. So we’ve got to start turning it around for blokes like him. ’’

Hopkins is busy away from football. He and his partner, Remi, recently welcomed a son, Ernie. And he has his own carpentry business, employing two Leongatha players, Sam Forrester and Hayden Lindsay.

Football talk is never far away.

“We don’t get much done for the first hour every Monday!’' he says.

Hopefully for “Hoppy’’ they’ll soon be talking about regular Giants wins.

Originally published as ‘Hoppy’ happy back in the land of the Giants