HUDDLED around a phone after their rousing 34-point win over league leaders Whittlesea last Saturday, Fitzroy Stars players were eager to learn their finals fate.
The seventh-placed Stars, back in club football after 14 years, had just picked off the premiership fancies and were awaiting news to see if they'd clinched the last remaining finals spot in the Northern Football League's Division 2.
Alas, the one box the Aboriginal football club hadn't ticked off in their four-week run home was to defeat third-placed Macleod in the previous round and that loss came back to bite them. As it was, sixth-placed Mernda thumped 11th-placed Hurstbridge to deny the Stars their maiden finals placing.
Mernda and Stars ended the season on equal wins (10), losses (8) and points (40), but a points differential of around 150 assured the Demons of a place in the finals at the Stars’ expense.
The Stars' entry into the league in late January had come after the NFL had drawn up the season's fixtures. It was decided that if they were admitted, the Stars, the league's 14th side, would take the place of the bye, which meant they'd play the strong sides twice.
"We were happy to have won against Whittlesea and we had a good season but we were still pretty devastated when we found out we had missed out on the finals," Peter Hood, one of the Stars’ young guns, said.
The Stars had a run of four straight wins from Round 6 and three straight from Round 14 but couldn't string enough together to cement a spot in the top six.
Les Bamblett, an assistant coach alongside Alan Brown (head coach) and Allan Thorpe (assistant), said the Stars lacked one or two key tall players to take them to the next step.
"Most of the boys who played this year will hopefully be back next year," Bamblett said. "We were probably two big men out from making the finals so that’s something we’ll probably look at addressing for next year.
"Having said that, we were probably one of the quickest sides in the league."
Opposition teams exploited the Stars’ height deficiency by dropping players back in front of their forwards.
"We didn't really have any big talls compared to a lot of the other teams, which had a couple of giants," said 18-year-old Hood, who trained briefly with Carlton-aligned VFL side Northern Bullants. "We've got a few talls, but ours just weren't as tall as the others so we had to adapt."
Despite the Stars missing out on seeing any finals action, both clubmen said the season was far from wasted. Their high finish also meant the Stars had avoided relegation to the league’s planned Division 3 next year.
"The feeling around the club is sensational, we can't wait until next year," Bamblett said. "This season has just exceeded all our expectations. The only way from here is up."
"At the start, things picked up after our first win (in Round 2)," Hood said. "We realised then that we have the potential to be a good side."
While likely to take up the Bullants' offer to train again next season, Hood said he will cherish the camaraderie of playing with the Stars.
"Just playing with my brotherboys, that was something else," he said. "Playing under our coaches was grouse. 'Thorpey' coached me at the Northern Knights and Uncle 'Lelly' knows what to say at the right time, and Alan Brown had a huge impact on us, too."
The Stars' reserves side have also missed out on a spot in the finals, ending their season in eighth place with eight wins, nine losses and a draw (34 points).
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Last Modified on 12/08/2008 23:52