FOOTBALL journeys do not come much more eventful than five grand finals, best and fairests, a premiership and booting the ton.
But in 2015, Joffa Byron’s journey from playing to coaching at Panton Hill, is another chapter in the career of one of football’s most persistent minds.
“I’m really enjoying it. It was something that I went in with eyes wide open and I knew it was going to be pretty time consuming,” Byron said.
“The footy club, being up in Division 2, this is our second year now, I think we’re really starting to get the grasp of what it takes to stay up and survive in Division 2. Since I first came to the Club back in 2010, the steps we’ve made as a footy club have just been huge.”
It’s always a risk in the often unrelenting, rigorous environment of a footy club to name a young captain. And it’s always a tough ask to lead by example week by week at such a young age.
Many might cast their minds back to Wayne Carey – named captain of North Melbourne just ahead of his 22nd birthday.
22-year-old Tyler Scarce was never a question in the eyes of his coach for the captaincy. Scarce’s first season as skipper, 2014, bore the Division 2 best and fairest and he continues to lead from the front in 2015.
Joffa Byron never had any doubts.
“(Tyler) is a pretty rare individual. He’s very driven and wants to succeed and works very hard to make sure he gets the very best out of himself,” Byron said.
“I had no problems making ‘TJ’ the sole captain. I knew it was something he’d embrace, and he’s always eager to learn as well.
“As a leader, and his effort as a footballer, it can’t be questioned. He’s still really young and he’s got a lot of scope to improve.”
Scarce’s influence has also brought added leadership to the Redbacks.
“We’re pretty lucky – we’ve got Mitch Anderson who came to the footy club as well and he actually brought a fair bit of leadership with him.
“He’s really good mates with Tyler. He’s really helped drive the group to a higher standard (and) to expect a little bit more from each other,” Byron said.
On paper, season 2015 may read indifferently – at least to those blissfully ignorant of the multitude of close losses suffered by the Redbacks this year.
And if one believes in honourable losses, Round 12’s five-point loss to ladder-leaders Hurstbridge is it.
“With a young group, you’ll get that inconsistency and just that last little bit to get us over the line.
“That’s something we’ve been working on, all through pre-season and through the games this year. I’m sure we’re not too far away from being able to will ourselves over the line,” Byron said.
But the potential shown in the playing group this season is nothing new to Byron; it became apparent in the twilight of his career after finishing up with Montmorency.
The end of a footy journey in Division 1 would realise perhaps one of the most promising lists and subsequent coaching opportunities available.
"We made three senior grand finals (at Montmorency). We lost all those, which was really heartbreaking. Then, my body just couldn’t play Division 1 footy anymore and I had some mates at Panton Hill, so I went up there.
“I really enjoyed the latter parts of my career, and I could see that they were a group that were on the rise,” Byron said.
The switch to Panton Hill in 2010 would see a grand final loss to Mernda in 2012, and Byron’s fourth loss at the big dance despite kicking over 100 goals that season.
But the following season would produce what many footballers dream about – the clichéd fairytale ending to a stellar playing career – a premiership.
And if that wasn’t cliché enough, the Redbacks held on to defeat Watsonia by a solitary point as Byron hung up the boots.
“It was my fifth grand final in 2013, and that was what was driving me to keep playing – to try and win a premiership,” he said.
“I’d been working so hard for (a premiership) for so many years, that it was such a relief for me, that I could actually walk away quite content.
“I would have loved to have won five, but I was content to walk away and know that I’d given everything I had and I finally got a medallion that I can hold onto forever and I cherish that every day.”
With a playing career fulfilled and a burning, competitive desire to coach, Byron’s direction was clear.
“I knew it was time, and I got what I wanted out of footy. I was always pretty keen to get into coaching even when I was playing years ago.
“I just wanted to originally have a year out and I did that and I did a bit of homework about where I was going to be at and what sort of coach I wanted to be. I went and watched a lot of other footy,” he said.
And in the transition from playing to coaching, the message remains clear to his players as Panton Hill looks to forge an historic chapter under Joffa Byron – football does not last forever, but glory lasts for eternity.
“When that opportunity presents, you’ve got to try and take it and be the best you can, because it goes by in a flash”
