Burras to unveil running game
Adefensive and stoic game plan, based on a formula that involved shutting down opposition scoring opportunities, muscled Minyip-murtoa into Wimmera Football League’s grand final last year.
It was a formula that worked for much of the season.
So are the Burras, under new coach Damian Cameron, going to head down the same direction this year?
Not likely. If Cameron can mould last year’s runners-up into the style of football he wants them to play, the Burras will be beating teams not only with defensive pressure, but with sheer weight of goals as well.
In a message to Minyipmurtoa fans, Cameron, in his first stint as a Wimmera league coach, said the black, white and blue faithful could look forward to a new brand of football that ‘will be exciting to watch.’
History shows that Minyipmurtoa, with strategist Jaye Macumber in charge of the whiteboard and having led the team to a runaway top-of-thetable finish, kicked 23 goals in three finals to finish the season a kick off winning the ultimate prize.
Wet weather obviously played a major role in a lack of scoring opportunities during the finals, but the Burras had earlier established and profited from the shut-down style.
Cameron was part the Burras’ leadership group last year as an assistant to Macumber, and gained strategic experience from the year. But, as one of the best running and aerobic running players in the competition, said his natural style of football was different.
“Jaye was experienced and really good with his organisation and game plans, but I have a different outlook,” he said.
“Last year we were quite de- fensive. With a few new faces on board I would like us to move and carry the footy more and obviously try to kick bigger scores. I believe that if you want to win big finals you have to be able to play a fast brand of footy and to kick big scores.
“We’ve been training to do that and, through a bit of trial and error, a fair few things are going to change.”
Cameron hoped to explore the more attacking style against Hamilton in a practice match at Hamilton last week and against Ballarat Swans this weekend.
“We’re not going to flip things completely on their head. Anything I think we could benefit from last year we’re implementing. The club leaders are backing me and happy to give it a crack,” he said.
Another major change in direction for the Burras has been their approach to pre-season preparations.
Cameron said there was a belief the Burras, despite enjoying game-to-game success, might have been looking forward too much for the season to end instead of focusing on the job at hand.
“It was a long, long season and in the end we bummed out,” he said.
“This year we decided to keep things quiet until after January and be all go from there. It’s worked well so far. We got into competitive work and hard running straight away and we’ve noticed people aren’t breaking down as quickly.”
The dynamics of the Burras line-up will differ from last year, with AFL gun Clinton Young departing and others such as Adam Gerdtz, staying in Geelong, and Woody Bucci, Port Fairy, missing this year.
But the side has picked up assistant coach Sam Winfield from Laharum, Pat Purcell, Taylors Lake, Oliver Young, Kalkee, and Luke Mulquiny, Charlton, who are all likely to work with Cameron’s run-and-carry plan.
Cameron said talented players such as rebound defender and interleague leader John Delahunty might also spend more time in the midfield.
“We’ve so far refused to make any long-term goals. I know it’s a cliche, but we’re trying to focus on enjoying the game week to week,” he said.
“We obviously want to win every game, but we also want to have fun. If you go out there and have fun you will do well and if you do well, you’re going to enjoy it even more.”
Cameron also revealed his other assistant coach, Luke Chamberlain, who suffered a broken leg late last year, had been training strongly and was likely to be ready to play again early in the season.
“He’s not tracking too badly and I’m sure he will be back playing good footy in the first month of the season,’ he said.
Minyip-murtoa’s first match of the year will be under lights against Nhill at Murtoa.