This Saturday we gather again for a lunch to remember, reflect and celebrate our 1991 Premiership Season. Special thanks to Peter Hannan, Tim Pratt and Greg Feutrill for their work in bringing this together. 1991 was the second year of Peter “Happy” Hannan tenure as coach after the club gained promotion but no premiership in 1990, under Happy the Friars learnt a new style of play that was rapidly adopted. Along with the new style, Happy also bought a wealth of experience and knowledge of the VAFA to the club of which we still see the benefits of today. His current role of VAFA Ambassador is a testament to the esteem with which the association holds him.
The side was ably led by Martin Spears who returned to the Friars after his long career in the EFL, his maturity and strength being a real asset for both the team and club. This also enticed other mature players to the club including Peter Lane, throw in “The General” Cam Houston and they formed a formidable forward line that challenged opponents throughout the season. It also saw the emergence of key young talent in Anthony Carbone and Robert Reidy to the team, these two players becoming the core of Friar success for the following years. With Cuzza going on to win the club B&F for the year and to play over 300 games for the club.
The Season
It all began well with strong wins over St Kilda and Preston and a sign of the attacking style to be adopted with 20 goals kicked in each game, but there were health scores of 13 and 15 goals from the opposition. Pratty opened the season with a lazy 9, but relinquished the goal kicking honours in round 2 to the “will ‘o the wisp” flanker/winger Noel Jenkins. A flying start the C Grade was brought to a halt with visit to the windswept Frearson Oval at Monash who dished out a 10 goal wake up call, this was followed by a good old fashioned shoot out at Ivanhoe where the Friars conceded an 8 goal last quarter and 14 point lead to go down 21-13 to 20-13. A healthy beginning to the season and a reality check.
Back on home soil the form returned for the encounter against rivals the State/Comm Bank – only our 6th year but a healthy rivalry had developed between these two teams. Maybe because they were separate teams before the merger of the banks and then the clubs. But then one of the more dreaded away fixtures in football – the trip to Fawkner. The Friars were on the end of a good old fashioned whippin’ by 105 points – nevertheless the attacking style was coming through with 19 goals. Wins then over Bulleen-Templestowe and Thomastown moved the record to 5-3. An interesting aside is that Bullen-Temp coach back then Harry Harisiou is at the reigns of the club today – he may not be everyone’s style but clearly his loyalty is undoubted. The Round 9 clash with the ‘fields saw the Friars lose their pace in the four as the opposition booted away for a 28 point win after scores were level at ¾ time.
5-4 at the turn and the season on the line – something had to happen. It did and the Friars won their next 6 games by an average of 74 points including the defeat of Monash and retribution handed back to Caulfield in the order of a 104 point thumping. After which VAFA scribe les “The Accurate One” Argen nominated The Friars and Bullen-Templestowe as the teams to beat. These games included some strong defensive efforts keeping 3 sides to less than 5 goals. Simon McAuliffe, Danny Crowe and Tim McNeil were leading a mean unit at the back but with plenty of dash to create opportunities in forward thrusts. After 15 Rounds the record was now 11-4.
One the terms that has grown in Footy, but in reality is more of an excuse is “The loss we had to have”. Whatever it was the 66 point drubbing at the hands of the Bankers made the Friars use another often used term. “Take a good hard look at themselves”. This they did and rebounded in the penultimate round of the season with a hard fought win over Fawkner at Friar Park. The Friars were perched second on the ladder 2 points behind Bulleen-Templestowe before the final game added to that only one game clear of Monash who had a better percentage. A loss to B-T in Round 18 would have seen the Friars lose the double chance. A 5 goal to 3 opening quarter set up a comfortable victory finally going away to 49 point victory with Pratt and Reidy sharing 11 goals and Cuzza and Simon Strike named among the best for the Friars. This resulted in the Friars finishing on top of the ladder with 13 wins and 5 losses, from Bulleen-Temp, Monash and Ivanhoe with the Bankers missing out by a game despite their excellent percentage.
Round 1
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Home
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Whitefriars
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20-20-140
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def
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St Kilda CBOC
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13-15-93
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Round 2
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Home
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Whitefriars
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21-15-141
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def
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Preston MBOB
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15-10-100
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Round 3
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Away
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Whitefriars
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11-7-73
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lost to
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Monash
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20-11-131
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Round 4
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Away
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Whitefriars
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20-13-133
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lost to
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Ivanhoe
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21-13-139
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Round 5
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Home
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Whitefriars
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13-14-92
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def
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State/Comm Bank
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10-17-77
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Round 6
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Away
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Whitefriars
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19-9-123
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lost to
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Fawkner
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35-18-228
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Round 7
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Home
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Whitefriars
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18-13-121
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def
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Bulleen-Templestowe
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12-13-85
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Round 8
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Away
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Whitefriars
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18-25-133
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def
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Thomastown
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16-12-108
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Round 9
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Away
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Whitefriars
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12-9-81
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lost to
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Caulfield Grammarians
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16-13-109
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Round 10
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Home
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Whitefriars
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10-13-73
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def
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Monash
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6-11-47
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Round 11
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Away
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Whitefriars
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17-14-116
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def
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Preston MBOB
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4-9-33
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Round 12
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Away
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Whitefriars
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18-13-121
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def
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St Kilda CBOC
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8-17-65
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Round 13
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Home
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Whitefriars
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22-17-149
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def
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Thomastown
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4-6-30
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Round 14
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Home
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Whitefriars
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22-28-160
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def
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Caulfield Grammarians
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8-8-56
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Round 15
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Home
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Whitefriars
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11-17-83
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def
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Ivanhoe
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3-9-27
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Round 16
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Away
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Whitefriars
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9-17-71
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lost to
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State/Comm Bank
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20-17-137
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Round 17
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Home
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Whitefriars
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11-10-76
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def
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Fawkner
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11-7-73
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Round 18
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Away
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Whitefriars
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17-7-109
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def
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Bulleen-Templestowe
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8-12-60
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The Finals
Monash took on and easily accounted for Ivanhoe in the First Semi-final leaving them a week to wait for the loser of the second semi. The meeting a fortnight earlier between The Friars and B-T meant little, once it is finals time a 1 point margin is the same as 100 apart from the heart palpitations. The second Semi-Final did produce some of them as the Bullants pulled out a five goals to one first quarter. The second term saw the Friars run and handball game come through and produce a 4 goal response that saw the deficit reduced to 8 points at the half and then to a one point advantage at orange time. An early goal to B-T saw the lead disappear, however some cheeky forward work from Cuzza got it back and the Friars went on the seal the deal by 10 points. B-T left it all out on the park that day and were soundly beaten by Monash who got away to good start and held the opposition at bay all day.
C Section – Second Semi-Final
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¼ Time
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½ Time
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¾ Time
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Final
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Whitefriars
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1.4
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5.7
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8.10
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10.13 (73)
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Bulleen-Templestowe
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5.2
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7.3
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9.3
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10.3 (63)
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Goal Kickers: T.Pratt 3, A.Carbone 3, P.Lane 2, P.Coghlan, C.Houston
Best Players: G.Gibbins, A.Carbone, S.McAuliffe, M.Harrison, P.Coghlan, R.Reidy
The Grand Final was between the two form sides of the competition – the Friars lead is already documented – the Students had not only won two finals easily but also had won their last 7 H&A games many by some thumping margins. Most of the detail in this piece has been referenced from “The Accurate One”, but alas he was a student and the level of detail in the record after the Grand Final was simply “Congratulations Whitefriars”. It was though your typical windy day at Elsternwick Park which is made for messy football, the benefit for the Friars being that they were overall less messy. This was one of the strengths of the coach who understood how to play and win at EP. After trailing by 10 points at the half the defence asserted itself and the Friars booted 7 goals to 2 in the second half to win their 2nd Senior Flag in 6 years. My best for the Friars on the day was Paul Coghlan, undersized for a ruckman but provided a great contest all day and used his skill effectively.
C Section – Grand Final
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¼ Time
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½ Time
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¾ Time
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Final
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Whitefriars
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3.2
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6.3
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9.5
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13.9 (87)
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Monash
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3.0
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8.1
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8.3
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10.4 (64)
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Goal Kickers: T.Pratt 6, A.Carbone, P.Lane, P.Coghlan, R.Reidy, S.Turner, B.Crowe, D.Midro
Best Players: P.Coghlan, R.Reidy, A.Carbone, D.Midro, W.Lyall, S.McAuliffe
The Aftermath
For family reasons this was Happy’s last game as coach of the Friars – he remains a solid supporter of the club and highly respected as part of VAFA royalty. The rest of the team from that year – not just the Grand Finallists have remained close to the club and all share that special bond that only premiership teams have. A number of them with their own going association and work with the club have been honoured with life membership including Tim Pratt, Simon McAuliffe, Andrew McKeown, Brendan Lee and Greg Feutrill. On a much sadder note we remember three champion members of this team whose lives have been taken Simon Strike, Michael Harrison and Mark Bateman. Their contribution to this club remains alive and their memory is a vital part of the fabric of the club.
All Friar supporters are invited to join us for lunch on Saturday to remember not only the great year the Friars had in 1991 but to catch up with some wonderful contributors to our club in its formative years. Bookings close Thurday night but can be made through Peter Hannan, Tim Pratt or Sal Ciardulli or simply respond via email to friars.central@hannanit.com.au
Last Modified on 07/02/2013 07:34