Three flags in four years
Country football clubs can provide a lot for their members, supporters and players, but for Chris Kyriacou, it meant a fresh start and a new beginning, one that would lead to three flags in four years and a lifetime of friendship.
Kyriacou grew up in Moe and played his junior football for his hometown club. He moved into the thirds side for the Moe Lions, before making his senior debut, but something just didn’t feel right.
He felt his enjoyment for the game fading away. He’d played nearly 50 senior games for the Lions side, but at the end of 2005 was ready to walk away from the game.
“I was struggling at Moe. I had high expectations from the senior coach since I’d been involved in the Gippsland Power system, so the expectations were that I was going to go really well. I lost confidence in myself and wasn’t enjoying it, I was ready to step away for a year,” he said.
Then, he got a call from Trafalgar. They had been pestering Kyriacou to come down to a training session over the off season and finally, he gave in and accepted.
He joined the Bloods in 2006 and viewed it as a fresh start, one he could build on without the pressure of previous seasons on his back.
“I went to Traf with no expectations and had to earn my stripes again. I wasn’t a paid player, so I just got to be one of the boys and help mould a culture. It was a really young group at the time, but there was a really good feeling, it was mostly local boys, so the town really got behind us,” he said.
Kyriacou had finally found his love for the game again, which he said came back after a positional change.
“Dave Dawson was a really big influence for me early, he put trust in me and let me play my footy. I played midfield, but he put me back on the half back flank which allowed me to get my confidence back. That year, as a team, we were all starting to gel and we were genuine friends outside of the club too,” he said.
By 2008, Kyriacou was the captain of the side, leading a young team which had excelled rapidly, making it to the Mid Gippsland grand final to face an experienced Yinnar side.
Trafalgar hadn’t won a flag for 13 years and as a young side, were chomping at the bit to get out there, which Kyriacou said looking back, may have been their downfall.
“We beat Yinnar in the semi-final, I think we peaked too early though, we got ahead of ourselves. The biggest lesson was the pre grand final warm up. Everything is delayed, so I remember some of our players warming up in the thirds, a full two hours before our game. We used too much energy and it cost us,” he said.
Traf would go down to Yinnar, but the side took it as a positive, they were matching it with the best as a very young inexperienced side.
2009 saw Mat Robertson arrive at the club as an assistant coach. The big bodied forward who had experience with the Casey Scorpions was exactly what Trafalgar were crying out for, some physicality in the contest and a genuine marking target.
“I genuinely believe that if we had Mat in 2008, we would have won that final,” Kyriacou said.
Having Robertson immediately paid dividends. The Bloods finished third on the ladder, making their way to another grand final after beating Morwell East. Much like 2008, they would face the same team they’d beaten earlier in the finals, but this time it was different.
Led by Kyriacou, Leigh Stevens and Tiernan Abrecht, the Bloods used a five goal to none third quarter to blow the game apart, running away with a drought breaking 57-point win to claim their first flag in 14 years.
“Extreme relief, that’s what I felt after that one, we had a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Kyriacou said. “It was a really tight knit community in Traf, so when that final siren went, the ground was swamped, it was amazing,” he added.
Kyriacou knew that what the team had was special and having a limited turnover of players meant that 2010 would follow much of the same path. Mat Robertson was elevated into the senior coaching position after Dave Dawson decided to step aside, opening the door for Kyriacou to move into an assistant coaching role, something he’d been hoping for since he was a junior.
He thrived. 2010 saw him play the best footy of his career, claiming the best and fairest in the premiership season. However, it was coaching which drove Kyriacou to greater heights.
“I enjoyed the step up into coaching. When I was younger I had a vision that I could one day coach but didn’t know if I would ever get there, I really enjoyed the preparation and helping the side get up for the games,” he said.
Traf would win back to back flags, defeating Morwell East again in another dominant display and leading into 2011, the side were in with a chance of winning the famed three flags in a row.
They were in the form of their life. A young side still, Kyriacou was joined in the midfield by up and comers Klay Butler and Michael Farrell, with bookend Mat Robertson holding down the forward line.
2011 came and again, Trafalgar looked unbeatable. They won all 18 home and away games, flying into the grand final yet again with the confidence and bravado the club was now known for.
However, Kyriacou felt different this time. The pressure was mounting, and the chatter was becoming louder.
“There were a lot of rumours going around that we had created premiership merchandise already which wasn’t true. There was that much external pressure on us. Unless you were wearing red and white, you were against us,” he said.
“It was one of the worst feelings going into that grand final. Walking into the ground, people were giving it to me before the game had started. I heard that the Boolarra side were going to come after me too, it was tough knowing people just wanted to see you lose,” he said.
That day, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Kyriacou remembers sitting on the bench with an uneasy feeling.
“I remember saying to a teammate on the bench, this doesn’t feel right,” he said.
Boolarra then found an extra gear. They began to shift the momentum and the tide turned in a big way. By halftime, they had clawed their way back into the match and lead by five points at halftime, somewhat stunning the reigning premiers.
“I think the fire went out at halftime,” Kyriacou said. “When a champion doesn’t get challenged for a long time, I think you forget how to dig in and, in the end, we probably didn’t do that,” he added.
Boolarra used a seven goal to three second half to stun the league, defeating Trafalgar by 29 points in one of the most memorable upsets in the league’s history.
The unbeatable Trafalgar had been beaten. “I haven’t cried much as an adult, but I was in tears for two hours after that game. In the back of my mind leading up to that grand final there was so much pressure that I think got the best of us. Being captain, I took huge responsibility for that, I played a terrible game,” Kyriacou said.
Following the shock loss, the Traf side faced some changes. Robertson and the club parted ways, leaving the coaching position open and some uncertainty for the first time in many years.
Kyriacou received a phone call asking him to step into the coaching role, leaving him to make a tough decision.
“I was excited to be asked to coach, but I was really close with Robbo as a friend and was a bit hesitant to whether he’d be happy to see that or not,” he said.
After speaking with Robertson, Kyriacou accepted the coaching job, more driven than ever to avenge his sides poor performance on grand final day. He immediately brought in some robust talent, with Daniel Grimmer and former junior Brendon Santurini joining the fray for 2012.
Kyriacou also brought in club legend Chris Burgess to help run his bench, which proved to be a masterstroke for the first-year coach.
“We had a real hunger that year. I tried to bring a different aspect to things and I also brought in
Chris Burgess. He not only helped with the bench, but impacted the players in a great way, he was massive as a mentor to me and others, we became really close friends,” Kyriacou said.
2012 saw a new contender emerge in the Mid Gippsland league, with Newborough launching themselves up the ladder with some key player signings. Well coached and led by Allan Chandler, Newborough were looking to thwart Trafalgar’s chance at another flag.
Four times the two teams would meet in the 2012 home and away season, with Newborough prevailing in three of those. So, it was only fair that the sides would meet in not just one final, but two.
“We felt that we were as good as them that year, we just couldn’t beat them. We faced them in the semi-final and lost, but I felt we also didn’t show all our cards, some matchups we had up our sleeve we didn’t show since we thought we would see them again and we did in the grand final,” Kyriacou said.
In a game full of pressure filled moments, three quarter time saw the two sides separated by just four points.
In what was the sixth clash between the two teams that year, for the first time, Trafalgar came out on top in the biggest one of all.
“I remember it was a battle, it was a really good four quarter performance from us. There are plenty of moments, but I remember one vividly. Lincoln Weymouth came off the bench, he hadn’t had much of the ball that day, but he dove to create a smother on the wing and a stoppage. That was our mentality, he did what he could, we all did,” Kyriacou said.
For Kyriacou, securing that flag was redemption and something he said was extremely driven to achieve not just for the team, but for the town.
“It was very emotional that one in 2012. My son had just been born and it was the first time I’d cried from happiness with everything that had happened that year. You invest your life in it, it’s a tight knit community and I’m forever grateful for what the footy club did for me and the friendships I’ve made, I wouldn’t be where I am today without them,” he said.
Now, in 2020, five years after his departure, Kyriacou has returned as the senior coach in his twilight years, wanting to give back to a club that has given so much to him.
“I still felt my body was going alright, I wanted to go back to Traf and give something back and finish my career there, many of my best friends are still there playing. I still have a real passion for coaching, so it’s sort of like the stars have aligned, the premiership window is still open, so we’ll aim to snag a few more,” he said.