Tallangatta league: Beechworth resurgence an inspiration for battling Wahgunyah
Beechworth is showing a struggling opposition club it can fight back from the depths of despair.
Beechworth is providing hope to the Tallangatta and District league’s latest struggling club Wahgunyah by completing a quick on-field rebound to shape as an early season flag contender.
The Bushrangers won just one game from the 11 matches played last year, and in 2019 had a player-shortage crisis on the eve of the season.
On Saturday they play the league’s other undefeated team, Barnawartha.
The Beechworth resurgence is being led by co-coaches Brayden Carey and Tom Cartledge who have both returned to their original club.
Carey is back after coaching Upper Murray club Cudgewa and the Bushrangers have also regained the services of Alessandro Belci, who won an Ovens and Murray league under-18 best and fairest for Wangaratta Rovers in 2019.
Beechworth used just 26 of its 40 points on Saturday with the club also boosted by the signings of former Rosebud key forward Lachlan Armstrong, who relocated to the town for work over summer, and Brent Ryan and Mitch Anderson.
“The three blokes we’ve picked up from outside of the town are all key position players,” Carey said.
“Players who had been playing under size in key positions have been pushed out to a flank or wing and reaping the rewards.”
At the other end of the ladder, the heavy defeats kept coming for Wahgunyah, which kicked just one goal in a 317-point thrashing from Chiltern last round.
It followed an even bigger defeat of 358 points in round two against Dederang-Mt Beauty, which also had an extended stint near the bottom of the ladder in the mid 2010s.
Wahgunyah forfeited its reserves for the first time this season on Saturday.
Carey said he felt for Wahgunyah in its present predicament.
“You don’t wish that upon anyone,” he said.
“Beechworth has been in a similar position not so long ago.
“From all reports they want to continue and the players are driving that.
“It’s tough and there is no light at the end of the tunnel at the moment.”
Dual Hawthorn premiership player and current Western Bulldogs player Taylor Duryea’s home club is Wahgunyah.
Club president Daryl Hore said it almost went into recess in January, but the players wanted to forge ahead knowing what was in store.
“They felt if we went into recess we might not come back,” he said.
“They’ve come on board knowing what the year was going to be like.
“We do get hit hard by other clubs in the area.
“You take your foot off the pedal for half an hour and this is what can happen.”
The Corowa Cluster of clubs, Wahgunyah, Rutherglen, Billabong Crows, CDHBU and Corowa-Rutherglen, compete for a shrinking player pool each year.
A probe was concluded pre-Covid in 2018 by AFL North-East Border into the area and recommended no major changes to existing league structures.
“It was looked at, but (the AFL) basically walked away and left it up to natural attrition to take its path,” Hore said.
“It was disappointing because it is just an area that is not growing.
“Jobs in the area are limited.”
AFLNEB chairman John Byrne indicated the Corowa Cluster situation would be revisited in coming months.
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