Goulburn Valley: Echuca hot favourite to win third successive flag
At least six country footy clubs have emerged as dominant forces since the two seasons lost to Covid. Read the inside word at one of the best.
Echuca heads a list of country footy powerhouses to emerge since the Covid-19 interruptions of 2020-21 and they are all primed for more premiership success in a fortnight.
The Murray Bombers are on the cusp of a historic third successive Goulburn Valley league flag after also being on top of the ladder when the 2021 season was called off due to the pandemic.
Echuca charged into another grand final by beating Rochester in the second semi-final on Saturday.
It’s a familiar story in Gippsland with Leongatha also perfectly placed to win a third successive flag with an even bigger victory over Moe.
Kerang is also chasing a flag three-peat in the Central Murray league after winning six flags in a row from 2012 to 2017.
In the Ovens & Murray, Yarrawonga thrashed Wangaratta Rovers in the second semi-final to be hot favourites to win back-to-back flags after losing the 2022 grand final by only three points.
And Ararat is also into a third straight Wimmera league grand final and a chance to also go back-to-back after losing to Minyip-Murtoa in 2022.
But what separates Echuca from the rest this season is having reserves and under-18s also in grand finals with its under-18s chasing a fifth successive flag in a dynasty that started under Leo Tenace’s coaching.
It’s estimated at least 40 per cent of Echuca’s senior list played under Tenace.
Echuca’s production line of young talent and high retention rate of senior talent are envied by its 11 GV rivals trying to bridge the gap.
It has not used more than 30 player points this season and played as low as 22 in its only loss to Rochester in round 5.
Echuca assembled its strongest team of the season in the second semi-final and used only 27 points with its highest point players being Sam Reid (4), who is in his third season after coming off Greater Western Sydney’s list at the end of 2021, and Bendigo league recruit Baxter Slater (3).
Cooper and Sam Willoughby (Deniliquin), Logan Prout (Leitchville-Gunbower) and Jack McHale (Moama) are all one-point players after starting their careers elsewhere.
Stability in key roles on and off the field has translated to success at Echuca, according to former president Ash Byrne.
Andrew Walker and Simon Maddox were appointed senior co-coaches in 2018 and are still going.
Walker returned to Echuca after 202 matches with Carlton and a short stint with West Preston-Lakeside.
Maddox coached Moama in the Murray league before taking on the co-coach role alongside Walker.
“Having the same blokes coaching, the same messages coming through, can’t be underestimated,” Byrne said.
“It’s been that core group for six or seven years now.
“Stability has a lot to do with it.”
Byrne also coached Echuca for four seasons including leading the club to the 2002 flag before becoming president in the same year the Walker-Maddox coaching combination started.
He handed the job over to Justin Hatfield last year with Echuca’s home ground, Victoria Park, about to undergo an $11.3 million upgrade that will include a new 400-seat grandstand, changerooms and function area.
Maddox said junior development was at the core of the club’s sustained success.
“We go over and above to get a really good mentor for our juniors,” he said.
“The idea is to create a really good culture where they want to stick around.
“You ask any football club and they will tell you they’ve got a good environment, but the proof is in the pudding.
“We were well under the salary cap and well under the points last year and could have gone and got an ex-AFL player.
“But our attitude is we would rather our own local kids playing.
“If we are going to win a premiership let’s win it as Echuca footy club.
“Our population obviously helps, we’re not a small country town anymore.
“But Echuca is still only a third or a quarter of the size of Bendigo or Shepparton.”
Leongatha lags well behind other clubs in the Gippsland league in the population stakes, but has booked a berth in its eighth successive grand final either side of Covid.
“We’ve been lucky with our numbers and our kids,” Leongatha president Mal Mackie said.
“They all want to be part of it.
“We’ve worked hard on culture and keeping our kids.
“We haven’t gone out and bought superstars because honestly we just couldn’t afford it.”
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