Pride the driver for Grace
ANTHONY Grace could take it no longer.
Last season, Grace was part of a Bell Park squad that eventually took home the GCA2 first XI premiership, but his heart lay elsewhere.
In GCA3, Corio, his home club, was floundering at the bottom of the ladder and finished the season with one win and three outright losses.
Off field, things were not much better. Amid rumblings of a potential merger, only a vote from club members in the middle of 2017 kept the doors open after the departure of the entire board.
Grace knew he had to return to Shell Reserve, with the club at risk of collapse.
“It was hard seeing the scores every week and hearing people say Corio are back to their usual selves,” he said before this weekend’s clash with Teesdale.
“My brother (Mitch) is back here as well, and all the guys I grew up with are all still around. When Terry (Shelley) asked me to come back, I said, ‘no worries’.”
The uncertainty around Corio’s short and long-term sustainability was the reason Grace, a star all-rounder who can score quickly, departed to join Bell Park for the 2016-17 season — and now the reason he has come back.
For him, seeing the Devils win just four matches amid offfield struggles while he was away was hard, and lured him back in the form of captaincoach for this season.
“It’s been hard seeing them struggle,” the 21-year old said.
“I’ve always looked to be a leader of the side — I was looking to do it in the future, but I didn’t know it’d be this early.
“There’s not as many (people) around as other years, but we just do the job with the peo- ple we’ve got. It’s something you always look forward to, leading the side and the club you played juniors for.
“It’s pretty cool, especially being able to play with most of my mates.”
The early signs have been good this season, with the Devils causing a major upset in defeating Alexander Thomson in Round 2 and also posting 188 against Geelong West. They also only lost to Waurn Ponds-Deakin by 25 runs in the opening round with an understrength side.
Grace is hopeful last week’s outright loss to St Albans Breakwater, in which Corio was skittled for 38, is a blip on the radar.
“Everyone has been doing their job and as a team,” he said.
“I wasn’t expecting to be winning games in the first season — I knew it was going to be challenging, so to get a win was huge.”
Grace believes the wheel may be slowly starting to turn for the club.
“If you’ve got a negative vibe around you, it’s going to be hard to win games,” he said.
“It’s going to be challenging with a young side, but (if) everyone can stay positive and on the same track, then it won’t be too long until we all improve.”