KYNETON
FOOTBALL
Coach: Luke Beattie (5th year)
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Last year: 4th - 12-7-1
Arrivals: James Orr, Nathan Thompson, Luke Beattie, Toby Sims, Harrison McKenna, Curtis Dillon.
Departures: Jordan Mangan, Jake Safstrom, Fintan Brazil, Nick Brazil, Michael Clancey, Kevin Clark, Dan Davie, Jack Exell, Jayden Exell, Ethan Forman, Billy Mahony, Bryce Hinneberg, Darcy Kelly, Jake Ward.
Player points: 43
Last flag: 1997
First month:
R1: v Golden Square (h)
R2: v Gisborne (a)
R3: v Castlemaine (a)
R4: v Kangaroo Flat (h)
Past five years:
2018: 4th - 12-7-1
2017: 5th - 10-7-2
2016: 5th - 10-9
2015: 5th - 8-11
2014: 7th - 6-12
Last season's MVP top 5:
Josh Govan - 51
Rhys Magin - 46
Harrison Huntley - 36
Billy Mahony - 34
Hamish Govan - 30
Last season's top 5 goalkickers:
Ethan Foreman - 58
Rhys Magin - 36
Max O'Sullivan - 32
Jake Ward - 30
Nicholas Brazil - 17
Q and A with coach Luke Beattie
The club announced late last season it had financial issues. How did that impact your off-season?
"From a recruitment point of view it made it very difficult because there was an ongoing perception that had been exacerbated by the broader football community that the club was broke. That just wasn't the case at all.
"The debt allocation for the club right now is probably less than just about any other club in the BFNL. That's a remarkable effort by the club.
"There was speculation made by other clubs that we didn't have the capacity to pay players. That was a tactic to either extract our players from our network and/or scare players from coming to our club. In some places that worked, in others it didn't.
"From a community point of view, as a club, we're at our strongest point in more than 10 years. However, from a senior player point of view - with the noted number of players who have departed - if we are pressured with injuries we will struggle to bring in players who genuinely deserve the opportunity or have the capacity to impact the game at that standard."
What does it say about the character of the Govan brothers, Rhys Magin, Harrison Huntley, Max O'Sullivan and Patty McCarthy in that they stuck by the club instead of joining the exodus?
"I can't speak highly enough of those individuals. The opportunities were many and far-reaching for all of those players. They made a decision to stick with the football club.
"Irrespective of what happens this season...it's actions like those that will carry forward with me far more than what the money that people left the club were able to generate."
What sort of expectations do you put on this new group? Is the top five a realistic goal?
"I think we can (make the finals). People will quickly realise that we only lost two or three fairly significant players in our structure. The others, while at times serviceable, were really only depth players.
"I think we have some young local players coming through in Shannon Rooth, Tim Kirk and Lleyton Chisholm plus we have some talented under-18s that we'd like to get some senior games into.
"You only have to look at Gisborne and Eaglehawk and the way they've developed young players in the past few years. Some of those players started at the age of 16 and 17 and are now 19 to 20-year-olds who are making a positive impact at their club.
"Getting time into those young players is where the sustainability of this club will be."
Summary
Kyneton's bid for a fifth-straight BFNL finals appearances will be a tough one.
Take 14 senior players out of any club and the following season would be a battle.
The positive for the Tigers is they still have some A-grade talent.
Athletic big man James Orr is a more than handy recruit and the return of Nathan Thompson to the goal square will at least give the Tigers a key target to kick to.
There's still plenty of class and toughness around the ball with Rhys Magin, Josh and Hamish Govan, Max O'Sullivan and Gareth Bowes, while Harrison Huntley and Patrick McCarthy will hold down the key defensive posts.
Where the Tigers will be found out is they won't have a seven or eight-man midfield rotation like the top five teams will.
If any of those premier players suffer injuries and/or suspension it's going to leave a big whole.
While the finals appear to be a stretch for the Tigers, 2019 will be about opportunity.
Bendigo Pioneers graduate Lleyton Chisolm, current Pioneer Caleb Fisher, Shannon Rooth and Tim Kirk will be given extra opportunity and responsibility at senior level.
The Tigers' junior program is arguably the strongest it's been in club history and the opportunity is there for some of that talent to get a taste of senior footy.
The Tigers have an under-18 squad of 30 players - unprecedented numbers for Kyneton.
The parochial Kyneton faithful are unlikely to be making their way to the QEO in September to watch the senior Tigers, but come September they might have plenty to look forward to in future years after the club bloods some exciting talent in 2019.
Related: BFNL season preview - Kangaroo Flat
Related: BFNL season preview - Gisborne
Related: BFNL season preview - Eaglehawk
Related: BFNL season preview - Castlemaine
NETBALL
Coach: Dianne Guest-Oakley (third year)
Last year: No A-grade team
Arrivals: Emma Webb, Tegan Beckerley.
Coaching panel: Dianne Guest-Oakley (A-grade, A-reserve, B-grade, B-reserve).
Last five years: No A-grade team (2018); ninth (2017); seventh (2016); seventh (2015); third (2014).
Q and A with coach Dianne Guest-Oakley
How is the clubs placed as you embark on your return to A-grade?
"It's looking like on paper we will have three strong teams. The B-reserve team will be good, but will be a bit of a work in progress. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."
How realistic an expectation would playing finals be this season?
"I'm hopeful, but it's something we will look at week-to-week. We have some basketballers in our side, so it will depend on whether we have them on a regular basis. Basketball takes precedence for the Mangan girls, but that's understood and we deal with it. We should be thereabouts."
I imagine after a season away, the first game back against Golden Square - under lights at Kyneton - will be a proud moment for many at the club?
"It will be ... I know the girls are all excited. They have been talking about how it's been a while since they have been in A-grade and how great it has been to rebuild and come back again. There's a bit of a buzz in town - everyone in the town is getting behind them."
SUMMARY
After a one year hiatus, Kyneton is pumped to be back in A-grade and eager to make its mark early in the 2019 season.
The Tigers were without an A-grade team in 2018, but following a quick reset and a stirring A-reserve premiership win, they will enter the new season rejuvenated and ready to win.
Kyneton has retained all of its premiership stars from last season, albeit some, including Katelyn Turner, who has become a paramedic, who will not make the step up to A-grade.
The Tigers, however, will be strengthened by the return of several former players, among them Tegan Beckerley and Emma Webb, who shared the league's Betty Thompson Medal award with former Golden Square star Meg Gilbert in 2015.
Added to the likes of experienced goal shooter Michelle Fletcher, Brooke, Jess and Rachelle Mangan, Hayley Page and Stephanie Penning, the Tigers have the makings of an ultra-competitive group, which is more than capable of challenging for a top-five berth.
It was not all that long ago the Tigers were on the cusp of a grand final berth (2014); and they were just six points off snaring a finals berth in 2016, the last time numbers at the club were at strong levels.
Their draw has been kind, with four of their first six games against teams which did not play finals last season, granting the Tigers an opportunity to potentially build some early season momentum.
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