By Trevor Jackson
THAT old saying, always the bridesmaid, could almost apply to the Hatherleigh Football Club after the last two seasons alone.
Twice now the Eagles have faced Kalangadoo in the big dance and twice they have succumbed.
After an extreme day for the 2022 grand final, last season showcased the quality of football in the league, with perfect conditions and a sea-saw battle until the end.
Unfortunately for the Eagles they were on the wrong side of the ledger when the final siren sounded and went down by a straight kick.
For coach Tom Hutchesson, 2024 is about chasing what the Eagles would believe they deserve, namely a premiership flag.
Of course that will not come easy, but few changes have seen the lineup remain similar to last season.
“We are looking alright,” was the simple response from Hutchesson relating to how his side was shaping up.
“We have had a couple of ins and a couple of outs, so we will be around the same mark.
“Sam Waring has come over from Millicent and he should be good in the ruck.
“Mitch Pulmer is back from Darwin, so we haven’t lost too much really.”
On last year’s result, Hutchesson was quite diplomatic.
“We didn’t get the result, but it was a good game of footy,” he said.
“We just ended up losing, but it was one of those grand finals, whoever won deserved it.
“I said to the boys they could be disappointed in the result, but not the effort they put in.”
Hutchesson would not have to say much more to a disappointed group, with the result itself having a big bearing on the coming season over at Hatherleigh.
“Everyone is hungry,” Hutchesson said.
“They have lost two in a row, so a premiership is a target this year.
“Hopefully we can get a win this time.
“Pre-season has been good.
“The boys are driven to get there again and hopefully win the main dance.
“They have lost the last two, so it gives them a bit of fuel to go again and prove everyone wrong that they can win the last game of the season.”
A couple of young players are also in the wings, with Hudson Nowak one ready to move up to the main grade, along with a couple of others keen to have a shot.
Hutchesson has certainly turned to the job at hand and that involves Glencoe on the Murphies home deck.
“Glencoe at their home ground first game … they will be up and about,” he said.
“They have a new coach with Reece (Duncan) down there so they won’t be a pushover.
“We have to come out flying because if we don’t, they will knock us off.
“We will be prepping like for any other game and hopefully we can play the footy we want and beat them.”
To get that opening-round win is important to Hutchesson to set the season up.
“100 percent you want that win,” he said.
“You want to be one and zip, not zero and one.
“It just gets the confidence up, gets everyone up and about and keeps everyone interested.”
