By DEAN LAWSON

If Wimmera Football League’s delayed start to the season goes ahead on June 6, Southern Mallee Giants coach Coleman Schache will have a couple of reasons to celebrate.

Not only will he join a nation in being thankful we’ve broken the back of the COVID-19 threat, but he will suddenly be back preparing his team for another crack at a premiership.

“We’re just following the guidelines at the moment and of course everything is changing very quickly,” he said.

“But if we’re playing on June 6 it will mean Australia is back under control, everyone will be in good spirits and we’ll be ready to have a kick of the footy. 

“If we get the chance to play, we’ll be as keen as mustard.”

Schache said his playing group had fitness programs to follow during the period of isolation in efforts for everyone to stay fit and maintain pre-season conditioning.

“I have given out programs that involve things such as running sessions, but at the end of the day the message is to just stay healthy. Obviously we have to trust the playing group to do the right thing,” he said.

Schache, leading a team hoping to ultimately reverse a 2019 grand-final loss against Minyip-Murtoa, said the Giants appeared to be shaping up well before the break.

“We were very excited before it all hit. We had practice matches a couple of weeks before, which gave us a chance to meet up with new players and get a feel for the game,” he said.

“A couple of young players really stood up, generating plenty of excitement, and that is still back of the mind.

“We have definitely lost experience from last year with a few big names and good club people departing. 

“But we also have a couple of older mature-age recruits, as well as young ones who have had a taste of senior footy and they have put their hands up.”

Incoming players include athletic utility Blair Whelan, attacking midfielder Jake Hall and forward Michael Cook. 

All have associations through Donacaster club and Cook and Hall played in Bendigo last year. Flanker Fabian Dorbolo is also back after a two-year absence.

Giants leaders are hoping the recruits can offset departures that include Sam Weddell to Queensland, Reece McNally back to Sunraysia league, Kai Forsyth who has moved to Adelaide and Haydn Drew and Blake Marshall.

Schache, who has Rory Shannon and Luen Credlin as his assistants, said it was great to still be talking about football in a time of uncertainty and if the season managed to get underway his team would be ready to play.

“We’ve obviously still done a fair body of work over pre-season and we don’t want to throw all that out the window,” he said.

“Our approach remains the same – the start will just be a different time of year.” 

He said the Giants, based on experiences and observations from last year’s finals, had been working on being tighter defensively.

“That’s where much of the work has gone into during pre-season,” he said.

“Minyip-Murtoa is obviously the benchmark and scored a lot of goals when they moved the ball forward. 

“If we can tighten up on the defensive side of our game hopefully we can bridge the gap.”

Schache said team spirit remained strong despite isolation rules preventing football training as well as playing until May 31.

“Everyone is obviously missing the traditional Thursday night opportunity to blow out stress through training,” he said.

“But all the boys are keeping in contact through social media, which helps keep the spirits up. They are looking after each other. 

“It’s a case of fingers crossed at the moment. Everyone is just playing their part.”

Coaches:  

Seniors: Coleman Schache

Reserves: Matt Webster and Sam Martin

Under-17s: Liam Price

Under-14s: Luen Credlin

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