INSIDE THE COACHING JOURNEY OF BRYAN THOMAS
His reputation as a player was that of a ferocious fast bowler who took as much delight in striking fear in opposition batsmen as he did taking their wicket. However BRYAN THOMAS may well have made his most impressive mark on the local game through his extraordinary commitment to coaching, including two decades with the Barwon Rockets and 24 years with St Joseph’s junior and senior teams, not forgetting a term at Newtown & Chilwell. Now, after being coaxed back from a two-year sabbatical into the top job at Grovedale, he spoke with WES CUSWORTH about the joys of mentoring young players in the game he loves.
WES CUSWORTH: I believe your initial appointment to a coaching role had an ulterior motive that may have been your saving grace as a young man.
BRYAN THOMAS: Yeah, Vin Lazzaro, Simon Farrell and I were encouraged to coach the Belmont under-16s and that actually settled us down. For me, that’s when I started to play better cricket. I didn’t find that out until much later that was intended to keep me out of trouble.
WC: How did representative cricket coaching come about?
BT: I’d played at Belmont and Highton and after that I went to St Joseph’s at 24. It was the best move of my life as Barry McFarlane and Russell Zampatti took me under their wing. Meeting them, along with marrying my wife, Fiona, were the best things to happen to me as I was an angry young man. Dennis Davie was president and he offered me a pair of cricket boots and a jumper and when I said I wanted to coach the under-17s he almost fell over. Then one day Barry ‘Rocket’ McMahon shuffled over to me and asked me to coach Geelong’s under-18 rep team.
WC: The positive influences just kept coming at the Saints.
BT: Yeah, two years later I met Brian McFadyen and Peter Cox. That changed my whole cricket philosophy. Peter taught me how to drink red wine, while they both taught me how to teach cricket. The cricket knowledge those two possess is amazing. Brian taught me the bio-mechanics of fast bowling and now that’s my hobby. They helped me learn to teach players to enjoy what they’re doing, that’s when they’ll play their best cricket. Personally I love team sports so I encourage the guys to really enjoy one another’s company.
WC: You clearly hold the club dear.
BT: I’m pretty proud to have the under-17 Thomas team named after me, although one of my big regrets is playing 98 games straight in the ones before being forced back to the twos when some new recruits came to the club.
WC: You’ve long maintained that good cricketers need to get down to Geelong Premier Cricket. Is there a right time or is it dependent upon the individual?
BT: My brother, Mark, wanted to succeed, got around some very good people and loved it, he really cherished his time down at Geelong. I wasn’t as coachable and it wasn’t for me. I do understand that it’s not for everybody but if you’ve got ability, players should consider going. We do need to support the Geelong Cricket Club and if we don’t it won’t be there. Then we’ll be whingeing that we don’t have it. It’s a very hard thing because we don’t want to lose our best kids, but if we don’t push some of our best kids down to Geelong then we won’t have the club. As soon as they go down they learn a lot more and you get back a good cricketer. Gareth Yelland is a good example, went down as a bat, came back as a gun bowler. You better yourself by being around good people like VCA legends like Luke Muller and Liam Buchanan.
WC: You must enjoy coming across the guys in the GCA that came under your coaching at the Rockets.
BT: Every club we play has one or two Rockets blokes. It was an honour coaching the Rockets because you got to meet the up and coming legends of the GCA and I got to meet them as young men. My best experience was with Matt Harrison, as his cricket knowledge and ability on show were phenomenal.
WC: How rewarding was the time at Newtown & Chilwell?
BT: I really enjoyed it down there with a great crew of young men coming through. They were a point from getting relegated when I started and by the time I finished they had all four teams in the finals. When I was coaching at Newtown I was still coaching St Joeys underage teams because my son was coming through.
WC: I know you helped Leigh Kentish out at Joeys after you left the Two Blues, but the last two years were out of the game. Obviously you couldn’t keep away.
BT: Barry Tsitas has rung me for 10 years. I love being with bowlers and I just love being around team sport, so if you can’t do you teach, don’t you? In particular, I’ve had a great time with Dylan Taylor so far this season. I was a bit apprehensive initially because Baz is such a strong leader, but Glen Talarico rang me and told me how much he had fallen in love with the club after one season. I’m starting to understand that now, it’s a great place to be.
WC: So it’s working well with Barry?
BT: Yes, he’s leaving all the coaching to me and just having a roll. Mark Brady is doing a great job as chairman of selectors as well as coaching under-11 girls, while guys like Graeme Harper do a power of work too. Everybody just jumps in and helps.
WC: Home to City this weekend and up against an in-form Luke Inglis and Englishman Richie Oliver who is capable of anything.
BT: Yeah, they’re dangerous. We’ve had a few injuries, but I think we have a talented XI. We’re just looking forward to getting the opportunity to bat on a good wicket and hopefully performing.