Gundy embracing a town full of support
sean.teuma@thechronicle.com.au
AUSSIE RULES: The Hawks have been the centre of attention in Goondiwindi in 2020.
With other codes out of the picture, it’s created a groundswell of support from the loyal town, something captain Brent Townsend said the club is embracing.
“It’s quite good. We see a lot of people that normally wouldn’t have an interest in following AFL,” Townsend said.
“We’re the only football code that’s been running this year, and we’re getting a lot of attention from people that usually wouldn’t.
“Many people just want to get out of the house and do something normal like go to the footy.
“It’s pretty reassuring. We do pretty well for a small town. All codes go well and there’s a lot of sporting people here.”
Townsend had the honour of leading the Hawks to the Allied Pickfords Cup flag last year, the culmination of three grand final defeats in the four years prior.
“It didn’t happen overnight,” he said.
“We’d been close to the mark and were up there but just couldn’t get through to the end.
“We did a few things differently and managed to get over the line. It was very relieving to finally get one after being second so many times.
“The system that we run hasn’t changed.”
The Hawks faced a unique situation at the start of the year with players on both sides of the border, however Townsend said they were able to work through the issues.
“There’s been a few issues with border closures and blokes working,” he said.
“That becomes insignificant though when people couldn’t get to town because of doctors appointments or get to work or childcare and those sorts of things.
“We were able to push through that, and we’re lucky in that we have the depth in the side that we can rely on and the players to get through it.”
Goondiwindi has incredibly gone undefeated on the Downs since July last year, including no losses at home for more than two years.
Townsend said he puts that down to never taking an opponent lightly, something they certainly won’t be doing in Saturday’s grand final against South Toowoomba.
“We don’t ever underestimate sides,” he said.
“We always think they’re good no matter who we play.
“We won’t give South Toowoomba an inch, and I’m sure they won’t give us one either.”