Queenscliff captain Caleb Whitley answered his coach’s challenge in the best way possible, collecting the Josh Finch Medal as best on ground in the Coutas ‘ 51-point grand final win over Torquay.
Whitley was outstanding in leading the Queenscliff defence, taking nine intercept marks and finishing with 26 possessions as the Coutas claimed the 2026 premiership, ending a 13-year premiership drought in front of a crowd estimated at 7000 people.
Coach Heath Jamieson revealed the seeds of the performance were planted days earlier, in the coaches room at the Couta Bowl on Tuesday night.
“I just thought his body language wasn’t good enough for me,” Jamieson, who led the Coutas to their 2011 premiership during his first stint at the club, told K rock Football.
“He looked worried, and if there’s one thing that I’m grand final week, it’s never worried.”
Jamieson said he told his skipper to “poke your chest out”, reminding him: “It’s grand final week. We’re not losing. We go to work.”
The coach did not shy away from the fact that finals had not always been kind to his captain, who was making his 148th senior appearance for Queenscliff.
“He’ll probably be the first to admit he hasn’t had some great finals,” Jamieson said. “So to see your captain stand up today like he does, great Queenscliff family… I’m pretty proud of him.”
Whitley remembered the exchange slightly differently, recalling a message from the coach.
“He sent me a text, yeah,” Whitley said. “Said you’ve been looking a bit nervous. I said, “Yeah, I have”.
“He said, ‘I need you rock solid on the weekend. ‘ ” I said, ‘You got it. We’ve got this. Nothing to be nervous about’.”
Whitley said the same message was drilled into the whole group.
Jamieson had spent the fortnight driving a single theme: pressure.
“If you’re thinking about anything when you’re going to sleep, you’re thinking about pressure,” Whitley said Jamieson told the players.
“That sort of mentality takes the nerves out of it. You’ve just got one job to do, you’ve just got to pressure.”
Whitley said Queenscliff expected Torquay to hold plenty of possession, so the defensive plan was to cut off any stream of ball out of stoppages, force turnovers through handballs and quick kicks, and pick off intercepts.
He praised Trent Thompson for setting the tone early in the back half, saying the young side “just jumped out of the blocks” with little sign of nerves.
For Queenscliff, the grand final was as much a week of mindset as a day of football. Having lost the second semi-final and needing to win a preliminary final, the Coutas had only a seven-day turnaround, and Jamieson was conscious of managing the messaging inside the group.
Whitley was quick to share the credit.
“I’m so proud of them,” he said. “Their pressure was elite.”
X: @krockfootball
