Looking back, looking ahead
There's nothing quite like that winning feeling, says Hampden league coach Jonathan Brown.
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And after three seasons at the helm of Hampden league's AFL Victoria Community Championships campaign, the man with a perfect record wants to keep the good times going.
"I'd love to coach again," Brown told The Standard.
"It's certainly something I hope to do and we'll probably work it out next year. But at this stage I'll roll along year by year, provided everyone is happy with each other.
"And obviously you get a nice feeling after winning."
But it isn't just the wins that keep the former Brisbane Lions legend coming back to his old stomping ground - there's a fair bit of nostalgia tied up in the Bottle Green jersey for Brown as well.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a group as spirited as the Hampden league.
- Jonathan Brown
In between forming relationships with the players, Brown says he also relishes the chance to coach alongside his former Emmanuel College maths teacher and South Warrnambool mentor Leigh McCluskey and Adam Dowie.
And in the thick of the action his father, Brian Brown, would be on the phone to deliver messages to his charges during the game.
"Honestly, I really enjoy it," he said.
"I love the process of pulling the group together with limited preparation and trying to make them play as a cohesive team. But there's also the growth of the young blokes - that's what really excites me and I hope they can kick on with their careers.
"And each time the camaraderie of the group has really grown. When new players come in they're embraced and pick it up really quickly. You'd be hard-pressed to find a group as spirited as the Hampden league, created over the last three years."
Rising up the charts
Hampden league's 80-point demolition of Ballarat has potentially lined up a date with a formidable nemesis in 2020, something Jonathan Brown said he and everyone else involved with the Bottle Green would await with eager anticipation.
Launched from number eight to number six in the AFL Community Championships rankings, the Hampden league would either play Ovens and Murray (fifth) or the Western Region league (seventh), depending on whether the top-ranked side, the Northern league, elected to compete next year.
It's fair to say Ovens and Murray has the wood on the Hampden league, having knocked them off by 66 points in 2016, 125 points in 2014 and 48 points in 2012 - making for an average winning margin of 79.66 points.
But Brown isn't concerned. In fact, he said it would make for an enticing test of the Bottle Greens' recent progress.
"I think we can safely say we're up in the top tier of the leagues now and to play Ovens and Murray, which looks more than likely, would be a huge challenge," he said.
"And it's interesting because all this (Hampden's three-year winning streak) came about after we got smashed by them last time when there was a lack of participation by the better players in the league.
"They've always been renowned as one of the best, if the not best, leagues in the state. So that would be tough for us but I'm sure we'd be up for it, embrace it, and look forward to it."
Brown said the spate of beltings at the hands of Ovens and Murray wouldn't have a negative effect on the psyche or confidence of his players. And nor would he be content, as the coach, with an 'honourable loss' that marked an improvement on years gone by.
"We'd be there to win it, that would be the only goal," Brown said.
"The boys could create their own history, because we'd look at it purely over the last three years.
"And if you've got any doubts as to where the Hampden league is in terms of the state, you'd have no doubts if we knocked off Ovens and Murray."
A stage fit for the occasion
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Ballarat's Mars Stadium, says Brown, but the top handful of interleague games deserve even an even grander platform.
The three-time AFL premiership player pointed to what was effectively the state championship, contested between the Northern league and the Geelong league.
Held at Queens Park, just a ten-minute from GMHBA Stadium, the interleague decider would have made the perfect curtain-raiser to Geelong's home game against the Western Bulldogs, played out on the same day, according to Brown.
"The AFL should be celebrating grassroots footy and this is the perfect opportunity," he said.
Ballarat and Goulburn Valley played an interleague match at the MCG in 2018 as a curtain-raiser to the round nine clash between Essendon and Geelong, but there weren't any similar fixtures this year.
And Brown said such an opportunity would eradicate any problems country leagues had with top-flight players committing to the representative competition.
"We understand the players don't get paid, but that's the reality of it, so you can't just ask them to play for the jumper, because those days are gone," he said.
"There needs to be some sort of enticement for the players. So if you really dress it up, get them excited and give them some reward for committing to interleague football, then they will come.
"And that's something we at Hampden have been very aware of over the last three years - we've tried to make it an enjoyable experience for the players.
"So I actually think the top few games should be played in Melbourne and there should be curtain-raisers involved."
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