Coach Morgan’s reasons why his Dolphins are champions
We’ve beaten every team in the One-Day Cup, says Dolphins coach
WHILE THE trophy itself was shared, there was a lot more than just the OneDay Cup that was split at Kingsmead on Saturday, once the rain had washed away the reserve day, too.
Ultimately, the Warriors and Dolphins walked away with something, and both their coaches could toast a franchise trophy that means a lot to both.
“I’ve just spoken to ‘Gobes’ (Rivash Gobind), who was here when I arrived,” Grant Morgan said of his opposing coach.
Gobind was an assistant under Lance Klusener before Morgan arrived, and left to work under now Proteas assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa at the Warriors. There was no animosity between Morgan and Gobind. It was just their respective ambitions taking them to their next cricket destination.
“It’s funny, because he actually moved into my flat when he first moved to PE. I’m just really happy for him that we could share this,” Morgan beamed, as he spoke fondly of a coach making his own name in the game.
There is not a negative bone in the Dolphins coach’s body. He lives for the sport, embracing it’s metaphors and translating them into deeper meaning for a team that has bought into his philosophy.
“I know we were a bit behind on Friday, at 154/6, but we still had Senuran Muthusamy and Robbie Frylinck at the crease,” he noted.
“We still believed we could turn that around, because I’ve seen those guys do just that. But we can’t control the weather.”
The Dolphins have spent an extraordinary amount of time explaining themselves and their weather patterns, but Morgan elaborated on another factor that justifies their billing as one-day champions.
“When I look at it, we’ve beaten every team in the competition. We beat some home and away, and those who beat us once, we beat them by a bigger margin,” Morgan maintained. “That for me makes us champions. We live for the heat of battle, and we would have loved to be out there, but it wasn’t to be.”
And so, in his second season at the helm, Morgan has something to show for all his endeavour. Even on Saturday, before hope of any play was finally abandoned, he was still scribbling away on his white board, mapping out a way to win a reduced-overs match
“My brain is a bit like a hamster on a wheel,” Morgan admitted.
He is always working, always liking for inches to nudge his hardworking squad forward. Saturday was certainly a few inches forward, and though the celebrations were respectful rather than rowdy, Morgan pointed out that it meant a heck of a lot to him and his team.
“We keep chipping away. Last year we led tables for a long time, and then fell away. This year, we got to the final of the Ram Slam, and then let ourselves down.
“But at least we went out there throwing punches,” Morgan recalled.
Morgan has always been a believer in playing each moment as if it were the last, and Saturday’s victory, albeit shared, may well ensure that he has the time and trust to play out a few more moments with his Dolphins side.
“We are building something. We don’t want our reunions to be just a case of guys who used to train together. We want to meet up in the future and say, remember how we won together. That’s the dynasty we want to build,” Morgan said cheerfully.
With that, Morgan and his men now look to the return of red-ball cricket, and a chance to push for the one title they crave more than any other.
“We had a lot of home games, which were affected by bad weather in the early part of the season, but we don’t complain. We have five games now to try and do something special,” Morgan resolved.
The little hamster in Morgan’s head never stops. Happily, on Saturday, that hamster earned a golden nut for its troubles.
Now, the hunt resumes for the next bit of glory.