Harper Sercombe
Braybrook celebrated its first win of the Western Region Football League division 2 season on Saturday.
The Brookers were 18 point victors against an inaccurate North Footscray, winning 12.8 (80) to 7.20 (62).
Coach Geoff Maddern said while the win was a relief there is still work to be done.
“The win was great for the supporters, everyone felt pretty happy with how things went, I’m not sure it was entirely expected, but we were certainly hopeful we would be competitive,” he said.
After winning the division 3 premiership last season, Braybrook lost its coach and 29 senior players. Now, up a grade and struggling, Maddern said this year was always going to be a challenge.
“It was always going to be about improvement for us,” he said.
“Losing that amount of players and bringing new players into the club was always going to be a tricky thing to negotiate.
“With me being a new coach at the start of the season, I only took the reins with a week or two to go (of preseason). It was a big learning curve for me too.”
Maddern already has his eyes set on season 2024 after adopting a new game approach from mid way through this year.
“Our preseason has started,” he said.
“We’ve been looking at different ways to measure improvement as the season went along, not just the scoreboard.
“It’s developing our game plan and getting it ingrained.
“[We have been] working on our ball movement, our defence has been OK all year, when we don’t have the ball our attack on the contest has been good, but when we do have the ball we have tended to turn it over too easily.
“Bite size chunks of improvement is what we’re about.”
However, the win did not come without sacrifice with key player Nicholas Gregson going down with a hamstring injury during the third quarter, requiring him to be stretchered off. Gregson has had a tough year after already sustaining injuries to his ankle and abductor.
“It’s a real pity because I think he was just finding his best form,” Maddern said.
“He’s had a really interrupted season.
“He’ll be around [the club] and his experience and knowledge of the game is valuable on a lot more levels than just on the field.”
Jackson Emery suffered an injury to his calf which has plagued him throughout the season, and Kyle Desira endured an upper leg injury that has also impacted him over the year. However, the club is remaining hopeful that both will be ok for the weekend’s clash against the second-ranked Albion.
Following the Albion game the Brookers play off against Newport and Wyndhamvale where they will be hoping to add to their win tally to take some much needed momentum into next season.
“I’d love to see [the new game plan] continued over the next three weeks, even though our personnel will be different,” Maddern said.
