By David Nagel
It’s amazing what you can find on a Saturday afternoon at the local football.
Fancy walking to the bar, purely for medicinal purposes of course, and stumbling across this little gem just lying on the ground at Starling Road on Saturday.
The game between Officer and Narre Warren was almost over, the Magpies running away with a huge victory – so this piece of paper became a bit of a focal point for the late-afternoon entertainment.
The beer cans were placed gently on the ground – and the eyes started to wander.
Narre Warren - “The Golden Era – 2006 to 2013.”
Very interesting.
Upon closer inspection this lost piece of paper looks to be a compilation of the great Narre Warren teams that won six premierships during the era. A three-peat from 2006 to 2008 was followed by a win over Beaconsfield in 2010, before back-to-back victories over Cranbourne put the rubber-stamp on a dominant period for the Magpies in 2012 and ’13.
Pakenham in 2009 and Cranbourne in 2011 were the only teams that could interrupt a golden streak over eight years.
It’s a streak that left Michael Collins and Nick Scanlon as six-time premiership players, Col McNamara with five, and a plethora of teammates with multiple premiership memories to enjoy.
The Magpies are undefeated after four rounds this year – maybe Collo and Scanners are heading for a lucky seventh premiership – five years after their last.
Sorry, got carried away for a bit there…let’s get back to this lost little piece of paper!
Whoever lost this document had clearly put in a bit of thought, with a criteria included to obviously narrow down the choice between one champion Magpie and another.
Long-term service to the club, short-term but significant contribution to success, and outstanding football achievements – such as winning premierships – have all been included in the calculations.
So what did this poor fella, who lost the paper and all the hard work that went with it, come up with in the end.
A bloody good football team, that’s what.
A spine that includes Lee Boyle, Steven Kidd, Michael Collins, Shane Dwyer and Kerem Baskaya would keep any team competitive, while the outer extremities provide pretty handy back up.
Jarrod Anderson, McNamara, Josh Tonna, Shane Brewster and Brett Evans are a star-studded unit on one side of the ground, with Ben King, Kain Baskaya, Jackson Parker, Scanlon and Lee Clarke a quality-combination down the other.
And just for good measure, ruckman Steve Watson has Collins, Brendan Kimber and Ricky Clarke as the three targets for his ruckwork.
Very handy indeed.
But the probably the biggest indication of the quality we’re talking about here is the players to choose from on the bench.
Austinn Jones, Dylan Quirk, Danny Brewster, Glen Hamilton, Clay Peresso, Justin Marriott, Matt Lee, Cole Harvey, Daniel Field, Andy Soumilas and Brad Scalzo – is there any end to the talent that played at this club over the journey?
And we haven’t got to the toughest dilemma of all – who coaches this great team?
All three premiership coaches, Austinn Jones (2006/07), Matt Shinners (2008/10) and Chris Toner (2012/13) all had their particular strengths, making it basically impossible to choose.
The unfortunate author of this paper, had Jones as his original choice but eventually threw the choice into the “Too Hard” basket.
If anyone out there spots a little lost soul looking for a piece of paper this week, please pass on our details and tell him we found it.
Gee it’s amazing what you can find on a Saturday afternoon at the local football.
Last Modified on 11/05/2018 14:50
