BACK ROW Michael Lane (Asst Coach), Guy Hura (Coach), Luke Lawler, S Mirunovitch, Peter Murray, P Masterton, Jamie Burrows, David Labozetta, Neil O`Day, Richard Anderson, Damian Wills, Kristian Plummer, John Theobald, C Rotherham, Marcus Panther,Jason Conlan, Jim Baxter (Manager), Walter Tedde ( Runner)
CENTRE ROW R Butler, Ben Lockwood, Rob Aughterson, Rohan Forrest (Capt), Lyndon Cleary, Scott Bool, Brendan Long
FRONT ROW P Heard, Jarryd Hall, Robert Cullen
Kevin Bergin and Vin Webster were re-elected President and Treasurer whilst Matthew Phillips took over the position of Secretary from John Lombard who was unable to continue due to work and study commitments.
Greg Lane was appointed Senior Captain and Coach. Greg had spent some of the 1980’s at Frankston VFA where after a particularly dominant first half of 1983 in which he lost the Best and Fairest award by a single vote after only eight games, he was picked up by St Kilda where he played fourteen games between 1983-84. He returned to the Dolphins in 1985-86 but took 1987 off after the birth of his first child. Frankston VFA were looking forward to having him back in 1988 but Messrs Lombard, Bruin and Lacey were successful in convincing him that Jubilee Park was the place to be. Greg’s appointment was particularly important in that the club had yet another player who was greatly admired by the younger players. He also had the background to be a competent coach and was likely to be the best player in the league. Other new members of the Coaching Panel were Paul Meagher (Reserves) and Guy Hura (Under 17’s).
The club had no trouble in recruiting Frankston VFA players in Arthur Bell (former vice captain) and Brian Jones, whilst Peter Bromley from Mordialloc further strengthened the team. Greg Lane made a very popular decision in appointing Jim Bruin as Club Captain. Jim immediately showed his class by kicking eight goals in the first game of the season against Carrum – as a rover, who didn’t rest on the forward line!
Despite having the second biggest percentage, the Reserves missed out on the finals by four points. The Firsts finished in first place, whilst the Under 17’s had 13 wins and 5 losses to finish in third position. YCW went into the second semi-final against Rosebud knowing that previous encounters had been close – Rosebud won the Round 4 game by seven points, whilst YCW won the Round 15 game by eight points.
YCW’s indirect approach to goal was in complete contrast to Rosebud’s far more direct style of play. Time and again YCW switched the ball wide from the centre only to find its skilful smaller players had run out of space on the narrow flanks or they were forced to shoot for goal from deep in the pockets. Most of Rosebud’s goals were from high marks directly in front; most of YCW’s were set shots near the boundary line or rushed snapshots under pressure. Despite being down by five goals at the last change, YCW rediscovered their accuracy to kick five goals to one and go down by nine points. YCW were without full forward Chris Hutchinson (broken jaw) and Coach Greg Lane (injured hand).
Sorrento, after soundly defeating Carrum in the first semi final, was the team YCW had to defeat if it was to have another chance against Rosebud. The rampant Sorrento had won thirteen matches in a row and loomed as a formidable opponent especially as YCW were without the services of captain Paul Davison, John Fly, David Webster, and Coach Greg Lane.
A six goal to one first quarter by YCW showed that despite the windy conditions, YCW were prepared to apply themselves despite Sorrento having an overall height advantage. As a result of some outstanding team play in the second and third quarters, and despite Sorrento kicking five goals in the final quarter, the game was over at three quarter time when YCW led by ten goals. YCW teamed superbly and once clear delivered accurately to team mates down field.
Final scores: YCW 16/12/108 to Sorrento 10/17/77.
After a tight and rugged opening, the running “Senior Stones” trailed by just by five points in the opening quarter of the Division Two grand final against Rosebud having kicked against the breeze. With a wasteful three goals seven behinds with the breeze YCW had a twelve point lead at the long break. Rosebud’s clearances from the centre improved during the third quarter and they kicked eight goals to three and enjoy a three goal lead at the start of the final quarter. YCW pegged the margin back to two goals with just under ten minutes to play, but the Rosebud defense was able to close ranks to stop YCW’s charge and record a two goal victory
Coach Greg Lane said that Rosebud had proved to be a little too tall towards the end of the game, a difference compounded by injuries to the key Stones big men in John Ostermeyer and Brian Jones. He was particularly proud of the manner in which his team fought out the game. Sean La Fontaine was the side’s only effective forward for the match with five goals. YCW gained drive from Lance Rossetto’s wing and had winners in Tim Ebbott, Greg Baxter and Jim Bruin. There is no doubt that YCW greatly missed the on-field influence of Greg Lane – a broken wrist earlier in the year resulted in Greg being non-playing Coach for the rest of the season.
Arthur Bell and Brian Jones clear out of the backline in the Rosrbud GF despite some heated opposition
Final Scores: Rosebud 14/9/93 to YCW 11/15/81Goal kickers: Sean La Fontaine 5, Jim Bruin 2, Paul Theobald, Peter Bromley, Lance Rossetto and Brendon Delaney 1 each.
Best Players: Lance Rossetto, Greg Baxter, Tim Ebbott, Jim Bruin, Brad Bennett and Paul Davison.
Point of Interest: Current player Mack Hura was the Coach of the 1988 Team.
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