Hungry for GFL success

Joeys man on a mission

A FINALS drought at Coburg has St Joseph’s recruit Lech Featherstone hungry for success in tomorrow’s GFL grand final.

The 28-year-old isn’t foreign to premierships, however, having claimed two from four grand final appearances with Heathcote in his younger days.

But after moving to Geelong with his partner last Christmas, a return to finals was one of his clear objectives.

“I wanted to play in the highest comp down here and I met with Joeys and it seemed like a really good fit. I think I’ve fitted in really well,” Featherstone said.

“I was just really impressed with the professionalism and the way the club is set up, strong juniors and I really liked the coach and the committee members I met.”

Featherstone’s addition to the Joeys line-up hasn’t been lost on coach Heath Jamieson, or AFL Barwon umpires for that matter.

The key forward finished tied for second in the Mathieson Medal, such was his impact this season.

“It was an interesting night. I didn’t really think I was any chance to win it going in, so it was a bit of a surprise,” Featherstone said.

“I think I’ve had a few good games and a few average ones, but I’m really enjoying winning and playing in a strong team.

“I knew it was a strong comp so I wasn’t surprised. I think it’s a really good standard, especially the top six teams.

“I guess once you’ve gone through and beaten all the other teams around you, you start to think you might have a good crack at winning it.”

Featherstone said his side had learnt a lot in the last two weeks, after suffering its first loss for the season against St Mary’s — the side it meets tomorrow.

“I just think we learnt about how they play their best footy and on the day we didn’t turn up,” he said.

“I think the loss really allowed us to refocus on what we needed to do to win. I think the second half things started to click a lot better for us and we really took that into last week I thought.”

One change made was sending captain Ben Capra into the ruck, leaving Featherstone forward in a three-pronged tall attack.

Featherstone said he expected to see similar tactics used in tomorrow’s decider.

“I think the team balance looked good last week with Cap in the ruck and having three key forwards,” he said.

“I think it’s a great strength of ours, we’ve got a lot of players that can play in different positions and it just depends on the day (with) match-ups and what moves he needs to make if a certain player is getting on top of us.

“I’m happy just playing whatever role I can.”