Magpie coach reads riot act after elimination repeat
THERE was a sense of déjà vu between yesterday’s and last season’s elimination finals in the GDFL.
Again Thomson would prove to be too good for North Geelong, enduring wintry conditions at St Albans Reserve to prevail by 38 points.
Last season the Magpies were restricted to 1.5 (11) in the corresponding final, which was the lowest score of the 2016 GDFL season.
“He’s just started to get going now during the finals, his hands were sticky and if he had have kicked straight he probably would have kicked six or seven easily.
“That was really promising for us going forward.
“We could have had about 12 players in our best, which again is a really good position to be in.”
Regardless of the outcome, Taylor and co-coach Reece Holwell, who is expected to poll well in this week’s Whitley Medal count, will continue coaching the club for a fourth year in 2018.
“We were far from our best today, too, so hopefully the weather is a lot better this week and we’ll have a fair crack at them,” he said. THOMSON 3.2 5.6 8.8 10.12 (72) NTH GEELONG 0.2 0.5 1.7 4.10 (34) Goals: Thomson — North Geelong — Best: Thomson — North Geelong —
On this occasion, it again took until the 17th minute of the third term for the Magpies to register a major, thanks to a Luke Parker free kick 50m out from goal.
By that time, the game was well in Thomson’s keeping.
Late goals to Mitch Habib and Jake Balacki saw the Magpies double their score in extra time before North Geelong coach Darren Ryan addressed his men behind closed doors for 20 minutes.
It also remains to be seen if Ryan will continue as coach next year as he weighs up his future.
“We sat inside and talked about where the players, coaching panel and club had to improve as a whole,” he said.
“If we’re going to take the next step, the three identities had to move forward as one.
“As for today, our midfield worked tirelessly hard, our defenders did a fantastic job and as a group our efforts were good at the contest.
“But where we failed was the inside-50 entries and striking from there. If you look around the stats, no side stood-out in any department.
“We were probably fortunate they (Thomson) missed a lot of goals as well.”
Youngsters Tom Schwennesen and Bryce Brockenshire joined veterans Darren Mathisen and Derek Fitzsimmons in the best.
But the absence of Darcy Eales, Grant Armistead, Toby Ryan, Cody Carruthers and James Chandler eroded their premiership hopes as the season went on.
Now for Ryan, who was the hero at North Geelong as the club’s premiership coach in 2013, must decide whether or not to coach on in 2018.
“I want to leave the club in better hands than this, but I’m undecided right now for personal reasons,” he said.