ST MARY’S under-19 coach Ben Joyce has praised his young team after claiming the club’s first premiership as a senior entity.
After losing to Whittlesea in last year’s Division 2 under-19 Grand Final, St Mary’s went one better this season, downing Hurstbridge 9.10 (64) to 6.6 (42) in the premiership decider at Preston City Oval on Saturday.
Joyce said it was an “overwhelming feeling” to be part of the club’s historic first premiership win.
“We’re only six years old but to see the joy on the faces of the people who started the club was great,” he said.
“It was a massive occasion for us. It was our third Grand Final as a senior club and to get the monkey off the back was a relief after sitting on top all year.
“There was a different pressure this year. The past two Grand Finals teams (reserves in 2012 and under-19s in 2013) were coming up against sides who’d only lost one game combined so we were really just happy to be there.
“This one was different.”
St Mary’s sat in first place on the under-19 ladder for the entire 2014 season, losing just one game en route to the premiership.
After a tight first half, the Burra were able to open some breathing space with a four-goal to two third quarter, before extending their lead further in the last.
With 16 players still in the side from last year’s losing Grand Final team, Joyce said he used the previous season’s defeat as motivation during his three-quarter time address.
“We were in a similar spot to last year’s Grand Final and I made it pretty clear that we wanted to react the right way and get the result on our terms and I think that’s what we did,” he said.
“Our pressure was great in the fourth quarter and we were lucky to get away with the result in the end.”
Jarrod Bunker was a standout for St Mary’s and was awarded the best on ground medal.
Joyce said he was also impressed by the performances of Nick Dean and John Desmond, along with 17-year-olds Jackson Wolczko and Daniel Castagnini.
“We tried (Bunker) at half forward in the last four or five weeks because he has elite skills at that level. At half time we pulled the trigger and put him in the midfield and he was our best player,” Joyce said.
“Nick Dean had a massive game. He kicked a couple of goals and took some really big marks. John Desmond was another standout. He had a lot of time with the footy and made good decisions.”
In a huge positive for St Mary’s, a total of 20 under-19 players had a taste of senior football this year as the senior team rebuilt itself under new coach Con Borg.
Joyce revealed that some of that group of 20 didn’t make selection for the under-19 Grand Final, such was the depth in the group.
He said the extensive young talent pushing through the group would hold the senior side in good stead in years to come.
“It was a rebuilding year for Con (Borg) to get games into these guys and a lot of the (under-19s) played their full nine senior games and there were some real standouts amongst them,” Joyce said.
“John Desmond was a shining light in the ones, Nick Daisley, Nick Gedge, Nick Dean, Lachlan Potter – these guys played eight or nine senior games each and were the leaders of our under-19 side too. When they came back to us they were much more rounded players.
“The vast majority of the names I mentioned go up next season so for them to taste that success this year as a group will hopefully take the senior group forward a long way.
“It will add a really good blend of youth and you can see with the last game against Watsonia the exciting times ahead. We beat them twice in the last four weeks and they made the finals.
“Once you get the young guys in and get another 20 or 30 games into them I think the sky is the limit.”
