Outgoing Super Coach Praises his Defenders
BY ALEX TIGANI
Many of our game’s finest tacticians have been unable to claim the ultimate prize.
The likes of John Northey, Ross Lyon and Rodney Eade each coached 300+ AFL games without premiership success.
Therefore Newcastle City’s Jon Clark had every right to smile in 2022 when coaching two undefeated sides to premierships in the same year.
On Sunday, September 4 he received the ultimate Father’s Day present when coaching his son Coen’s under-15 line-up to a 10.5 (65) to 4.7 (31) grand final win over Cardiff at Feighan Oval.
It proved to be a hard-fought victory after his side catered for the second placed Warners Bay by 89 points in the opening week of the finals.
13 days later, he then celebrated his third Women’s Black Diamond Cup grand final victory at Adelaide Street Oval by three points over Killarney Vale.
It marked Newcastle City’s six top tier premiership in the seven years of the women’s competition.
“We were never such heavy favourites or even favourites so it was a different feeling this year,” Clark explained.
“There’s always pressure, you hear the stories of the undefeated teams losing a grand final.
“So to hear that final siren, you could just feel your whole body relax from head to toe.”
Clark was saluted for his four years as coach by captain Taylor Joyce before the group poised for another premiership photo.
Born and raised in Burnie, he left Tasmania and found a love for the game in Brisbane.
His junior success with the Springwood Pumas saw him celebrate four junior premierships and earn a spot on the Brisbane Lions’ reserves list by the age of 17.
Sadly, his body had a different plan.
Three ACL injuries prevented him from celebrating the ultimate success as a senior player.
His most recent ACL injury took place in Newcastle City’s 29-point preliminary final win against Cardiff in 2018.
He watched on as his teammates celebrated a 22-point grand final win against Terrigal-Avoca the following week.
Likely to join the men’s coaching group, he was then announced as the women’s head coach to mentor a group which had already celebrated flags in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
However not everything went to plan in his first month.
“2019 was a bit of a whirlwind when starting the season with a 1-2 record,” he laughed.
“I thought ‘oh no, I’m leading them down a garden path here’.”
Early defeats to Maitland by six points (Round 1) and Wyong Lakes by 41 points (Round 3) were rectified with 12 wins over the final 13 games.
His line-up then made history that September, climbing from fourth place to celebrate an 8.6 (54) to 3.0 (18) grand final win against Maitland.
“We played Killarney Vale in the preliminary final who were the team of the season and we were lucky enough to get over them in the final minutes of the last quarter,” he recalled.
“Nothing against Maitland, I guess the game before was the grand final match for us.”
Once again, Killarney Vale would be the powerhouse side of 2020 when entering the finals with a 12-0 record (the season was shortened due to covid).
After dominating the first five rounds, Clark’s line-up was held to a score line of 6.6 (42) when suffering their only defeat to the Bombers by 30 points in Round 6.
Fast forward to grand final day that year and they would celebrate a 6.6 (42) to 3.7 (25) victory against the Bombers at Adelaide Street Oval.
So when Killarney Vale pulled off two upset victories in the opening weeks of this year’s finals series, he knew the Bombers would mean business.
“They were very solid defensively,” he said.
“We knew that was going to come and from that Cardiff game we knew they were going to play very defensively.”
To say the grand final was an arm wrestle would be an understatement.
It took seven minutes before Amy Pitman registered the first score of the clash.
Former GWS Giant Sarah Halvorsen then doubled her side’s score while a missed set shot from Mia Wilson on the other end trimmed City’s lead to one point at quarter time.
By half time, neither side had registered a goal.
“I don’t have much hair but (at that stage) you pull out what you have left,” he laughed.
“Half time was more about trying to get some consistency back and we just left too many holes around the ground and weren’t filling many of those holes quick enough and weren’t getting back to the contest.
“A lot of things we weren’t doing as well as we had all year and that was credit to the pressure and the way that Killarney Vale played.
“I don’t know if that shellshocked our girls a little bit or if it was just a bit of a ‘oh, hang on a minute, we’re not playing the way we normally play’ so I just had a chat to a few players in particular.”
The half time speeches inspired the side in the premiership quarter as Molly Simpson launched the ball from the forward arc and Meaghan MacDonald snapped the game’s opening goal to the joy of City supporters scattered along the fence.
Her second goal handed her side a 14-point lead eight minutes before Clark moved her behind the ball.
“When she moved back she took ten rebounding marks and kicks, every time Killarney Vale got it out of our forward line they kicked it to her each and every time,” he proudly recalled.
A rare goal from Holly Buchanan and back-to-back majors from Mia Wilson meant that the Bombers entered the final quarter with a two-point lead.
But in the end there could only be one winner as former GWS Giant Sarah Halvorsen set up her teammate Caitlin Holcombe for the winning goal.
Interestingly, Newcastle City held on to their one goal lead for the final 13 minutes of the match.
As Halvorsen guided the ball over the boundary to the tune of the final siren, some Bombers stars even started celebrating. Some had thought they had held on to win.
Yet it was to be Newcastle City’s closest grand final victory to date with a final score line of 3.6 (24) to 3.3 (21).
“It was a bit weird because we weren’t allowed to go on the field until they checked the score so we had to wait a minute or so,” he reflected.
In comparison with his previous two premierships, this one proved to be one of the most relieving after a cancelled 2021 season and a handful of obstacles in 2022.
“It was a tricky one, a bit of a different year because of the ground availabilities and I don’t recall a season where we had so many games and training sessions called off because of the rain and washouts,” he explained.
“We had a lot of sessions at our sponsor, a crossfit gym and lots of bonding sessions.”
Newcastle City proved to have the depth in season 2022 when finishing third at the inaugural Queanbeyan Cup (won by the East Coast Eagles) and also prevailing in the early stages of the Women’s Black Diamond Plate finals series.
The club unearthed talents such as Zara Clark and Claudia Gray as time went on while a handful of players were unlucky to miss out on grand final selection.
Taylor Joyce also finished second to Cardiff’s Danika Spammer in the league best and fairest count.
Ultimately, his backline proved to be the pillar to premiership success.
“Our backline was very underrated,” he declared.
“We talk about our midfield being so dominant, our forward line but I think our backline is underrated in those terms.
“Anna Ralston off centre half back, when the ball comes to that backline she rebounds it time after time but they don’t see that, they see everyone else kicking the goals.
“My best finals player was Casey Eacott, not because she got hundreds of possessions but she did the little things and saved our goals.
“In the grand final I think she saved five goals from the last line of defence.
“Those are the little things people don’t actually look at.”
Clark also praised his assistants Kate Handley and Tony Perry.
He also revealed that Handley, one of the premier players of league in recent years, sacrificed her spot in the grand final line-up in a selfless display.
Now Clark, who was named as the 2022 AFL NSW/ACT Junior Community Coach of the Year, will continue to coach his son Coen and his daughter Chelsie in 2023 while watching the women attempt a four-peat from afar.
“I let the girls know a month or so before the end of the season, I thought a fresh change will help them improve the group going forward,” he concluded.
“To see that development for the last four years was something I’ll miss next year.
“I can’t wait to come watch them now.”
Now, the final question for all of our five senior premiership winning coaches.
How many times have the match been replayed?
“Three.”
FINAL SCORES
Newcastle City 3.6 (24)
Killarney Vale 3.3 (21)
*Lowest winning score in AFL HCC Women’s grand final history.
GOALS
Newcastle City: Meaghan MacDonald 2, Caitlin Holcombe.
Killarney Vale: Mia Wilson 2, Holly Buchanan.
IN OTHER NEWS
- AFL Hunter Central Coast representative star Danika Spammer (Cardiff Hawks) has been unveiled as the latest recruit for Sydney’s UTS. Spammer was the recipient of the 2022 Women’s Black Diamond Cup league best and fairest, her third induvial honour in six seasons.
- Muswellbrook Cats president Mark McLaughlin has confirmed his senior coaches for season 2023. Current playing coach Matt Dunn will be joined by co-coach Cameron Benkovic while former coach Bryan Scott has been announced as the women’s coach along with assistants Dominic White and Megan Kropp.
- Cardiff junior Blayne Chandler was honoured with the Jock Wright McIntyre Memorial Shield for academic, sporting and community spirit earlier this month. The Singleton High School honour was named after former Physical Education teacher Jock Wright. Jock and his girlfriend, Norma Hungerford, were killed in 1958 by a passing car when they were pulled over to give roadside assistance to friends. Chandler, a former Singleton Rooster, was the school’s first AFL recipient.
- Terrigal Avoca Junior player Kaiden McNamara was named Central Coast Academy of Sport Athlete of the Year for 2022
- Tim Oosterhoff of Killarney Vale was named Sport Central Coast Community Sportsperson of the Year for 2022 at the recent Sport Central Coast Awards night.
