Season Review: Coburg TigersVFL website
06 September 2011We take a look back at season 2011 for the Coburg Tigers.
2011 Position: 11th / 2010 Position: 11th
2011 Record: 6-12 / 2010 Record: 6-13
Highest Score: Rd 9, 22.7.139 v Collingwood
Lowest Score: Rd 11 & 21 7.6.48 v Port Melbourne and Frankston
Leading goalkickers: Carnell (26), D.Murphy (13)
What happened: The football gods seemingly conspired against Coburg Tigers throughout much of the season. Coburg never really recovered from losing its opening two games by three and seven points respectively against Sandringham and Northern Bullants and with all its four byes coming in the first 14 weeks of the season it was hard for them to gain any traction. While that didn’t help matters, neither did a host of dreadful performances: Port Melbourne belted them by 104-points; Box Hill (76), North Ballarat (92 & 60), Williamstown (52). Add to that the fact that Frankston continued, figuratively, to twist the knife beating Coburg Tigers twice, including a humbling 67-point drubbing down at the Peninsula. It’s hard to reconcile those inept performances with the Coburg Tigers that twice defeated finalists Casey Scorpions (twice), Bendigo Bombers (twice) and Northern Bullants. And, it’s not as if Coburg Tigers didn’t have enough seasoned Richmond players throughout the season. Shane Tuck, Brad Miller, Angus Graham, Ben Nason, Jeromey Webberley, Jayden Post and Will Thursfield all spent chunks of time in the VFL. Kicking goals was a season-long problem as evidenced by the fact that captain Nick Carnell led the goal kicking with 24 goals and first-year player Dylan Murphy was second with 13-goals and he only played six games! Only four times did Coburg Tigers kick 100 plus points in a match and that’s never going to equate to many wins.
Star performers: Once again captain Nick Carnell lead from the front in another season that reaffirmed him as a top-quality VFL player while last season’s best and fairest winner Sam Power showed his class in a season that’s going to see him figure prominently again in the best and fairest. Recruit Michael Tanner, after not playing a senior game at Williamstown, showed that sometimes all you need is an opportunity. Tanner gained that at Coburg Tigers and clearly showed he was more than comfortable at the level. Ben Clifton and Damien Rayson also enjoyed consistent seasons. TAC Cup graduates Willie Wheeler, Dylan Murphy, Glen Grgic all displayed enough to suggest they will develop into fine players.
What’s needed: More depth at the VFL level, particularly a key, goal kicking forward. Coburg Tigers did not have a go-to-guy in attack and this was reflected by its inability to consistently apply scoreboard pressure. As evidenced by all the successful clubs over the past decade, those clubs that have a core of six to 10 VFL players in the 70-100 plus games invariably enjoy success. Of course, that will only come with time, but it’s important for Coburg Tigers to retain those players in the 30-50 game region so they can become the above-mentioned players.
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