With John Garrard returning as senior coach, Joffa Byron as assistant, Jayson Burleigh as reserves coach and the addition of Paul Haydock as an assistant the club looked to capitalise on the window of opportunity available after being knocked out in the first round of finals in 2010. The player list remained strong and some good recruiting over the off season saw the addition of a number of new players including the return of some old faces that had played at the club previously. In fact, the club attracted 20 new players plus 6 additional players returning to the club after either injury or playing elsewhere. Of these 26 additional players 19 played at least one game in the senior side. As it turned out, the depth of available players became very important throughout the season.
Expectations grew towards the start of the season and despite some lacklustre pre-season games The Hills started with strong wins against Watsonia and Heidelberg West in the first 2 rounds. However, injuries to key players and a lack of discipline at times proved costly as The Hills went on to lose 6 of their next 9 games and were looking like finals might be difficult to achieve with 6 rounds remaining. At this point in the season John Garrard resigned as senior coach and assistant Joffa Byron took over. Joffa did a terrific job under trying circumstances with key wins over other top 4 sides in St. Mary’s, South Morang and Parkside as well a crucial 48 point win over Reservoir in Round 16 to secure a spot in the finals.
The first semi final clash was against an ever improving St Mary’s at Epping. However, the Panton Hill team was determined not to slip up and took the lead right from the start of the game and never looked like losing, ultimately cruising to a 22 point win.
The clash against Parkside in the Preliminary Final the following week did not go to plan. The Red Devils played the windy conditions much better than The Hills in the first half and pushed out to a very handy lead by half time that was always going to be difficult to cut back. A tremendous last quarter fightback from Panton Hill was not quite enough as the Hills went down by 2 points. Parkside was 10 goals in front half way through the third term before The Hills started to fire. The margin was 7 goals at three quarter time but kicking with the wind Panton Hill clicked into gear in the final quarter to hit the front with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Parkside steadied with a couple and then Panton Hill came again but fell short by 2 points as time ran out. The loss was probably one of the most devastating for the players that the club has seen for many years as the season had promised so much. The steely looks in the players eyes will no doubt be held for future reference next year!
The depth of the club was tested as numbers were needed in the senior side on numerous occasions. Not only did this provide an opportunity for reserves players to get a taste of senior football but enabled plenty of players at the club to get a kick in the reserves. This proved to be most valuable as the reserve side kept their winning form going, only losing two games throughout the season.
In the second semi final Watsonia pushed the Panton Hill reserves for 3 quarters before dropping away in the last quarter which enabled The Hills to go straight through to the grand final. Reservoir then beat Watsonia and challenged The Hills in the grand final. Despite a tight contest for most of the game, the Panton Hill side was ultimately able to get their first ever reserves Premiership. A detailed description of the grand final is included later in this report.
The senior and reserves best and fairest awards were dominated by the two ruckman with Tristan Kreymborg a run away winner as the clubs best and fairest player and Chris Sansom picking up the reserves award. Tristan was voted by the coaches as the best player in the league whilst Chris Sansom was awarded the league third division best and fairest award. Will Box was the clubs second best and fairest for the fourth time and Joffa Byron chipped in for third place.
The club was also able to recognise two important people with life membership. Firstly, Stan Harvey became a life member after many tireless years working to get the juniors up and running again 10 years ago. If it wasn’t for Stan’s hard work the club would not have juniors and would not be in such a strong position with broad local community support. For this the club is indebted to Stan and will reap the benefits of that work for many years to come.
Chris Cahir was also awarded with Life Membership. Chris has grown up with the club in step with his father and life member Tony Cahir. But Chris forged his own way at the club as waterboy, player, Committeeman and Secretary for the last 5 years. Chris is a professional operator who has used his skill to help guide the administration of the club and set the foundations for a successful future. Chris is stepping down from the Committee next year, but no doubt this will only be a short break before he returns to lend his hand again.
The club is in a strong position and has re-established a professional and supportive coaching line-up with the addition of Division 1 stalwart Dean Haydock as playing coach to lead the club, Shane Lyons as assistant coach and Jayson Burleigh returning as Reserves Coach. Most players will also be returning to complete the job that they pursued this year, but there are also a number of exciting recruits to join in the pursuit of success in 2012.
