Tocumwal Bloods a winning culture after switch to Picola league

WHEN Tocumwal won its first game this year, some players didn’t know the words to the team song.

Bloods are back: Tocumwal Football Club president Ashley Crawford and player Marcus Oussa

WHEN Tocumwal won its first game at the start of this season, some of the players didn’t know the words to the team song.

It had been so long since they had notched up a win that learning the words wasn’t really an issue.

Marcus Oussa was one such player.

He’s been running around in the ruck for ­Tocumwal for nearly four years and the wins notched up at the start of this season were his first since he donned the Bloods jumper.

Continually being belted by other teams on the scoreboard was no fun, Oussa said.

“It’s a struggle. It’s hard to keep fronting up each week,” he said.

It’s clear Oussa backs the club’s recent switch from the Murray Football League to the Picola and District league’s North West division.

So did most of the Bloods’ members, 90 per cent of whom voted last year to change leagues.

The reasoning was simple.

Despite a long history with the Murray league — Tocumwal was one of the founding members in 1931 — the Bloods were no longer competitive.

The club’s senior team won just nine matches in the past three seasons and its reserves, under-17s and under-14s won just three games between them last year.

Losing week after week meant the club was bleeding players and support.

Tocumwal’s committee felt leaving the Murray league was the Bloods’ only chance of survival, but it was a calculated risk.

Almost a month into the new season, early indications are that the switch is working.

More kids are turning up to training and according to president Ashley Crawford, there’s a buzz around the club.

The Bloods lost their Round 3 clash with Berrigan by 22 points at the weekend, but are sitting third on their new league’s nine-team ladder.

It’s a vast improvement from their Murray league performances, where they were always closer to the bottom than the top.

Crawford is new to the president’s role, having taken over after the Bloods had voted to switch leagues.

But he is convinced the change was needed.

“The thirds (under-17s) had not won for a long, long time,” Crawford said.

“And most of our teams had not played in the finals for years.

“There was one kid who notched up 100 games and had only won four of those.”

Crawford said Tocumwal had wanted to move into a league where they at least felt competitive.

“We just felt that if we spent another year in the Murray league we would be forfeiting matches because people don’t want to play when you aren’t even competitive,” he said.

Adding to the buzz around the club is coach Daniel Kirchen, who brought five players from Mulwala, NSW, when he took up the role this year.

And the results are starting to speak for themselves.

The seniors have won two of their opening three games and while the under-14s remain winless, they lost by just three points to Blighty in a Round 1 nailbiter — an achievement in itself.

“There were so many times last year with the fourths (under-14s) that they were 10 goals behind so the opposition scores did not count any more (under the Murray league’s mercy rule); that’s how tough it was for the Bloods’ juniors,” Crawford said.

“To lose by three points in a good game is like a win.”

The reserves sit fourth on the ladder with two wins, while the under-17s are second.

Tocumwal had three things on its mind when it switched leagues — survival, sustainability and success.

It appears the Bloods have the first two under control and the third may even happen this year.

Crawford hopes the early-season momentum will continue and some of the grades may even make the finals.

And with the netball teams also doing well, it could be a busy September this year around Tocumwal.