The North Geelong faithful will rightly heap the majority of the praise on the twenty-two players and coach Peter Riccardi if the Magpies can produce one of local football’s great Cinderella stories and win tomorrow’s GDFNL Grand Final.
Victory will complete a transformation that has seen North go from mid-season sackings of coaches in 2022 and 2023, and only avoiding the wooden spoon in the second of those years with a final-round win, to featuring in a grand final for the first time in a decade.
However, Magpies supporters should be seeking out president Darren Vandenberg for a handshake or a hug, because without his persistence, North is unlikely to be in this position.
“Even going back three years ago, the Vanders rang me about six times, and I kept knocking him back,” Riccardi told K rock Football’s Beyond the Boundary podcast.
“Then he got me at a weak moment. In saying that, I did watch them play a couple of games (in 2023), and there was a lot to work with.
“So your nucleus is there. But after halftime, they just dropped away. Obviously, the fitness was (an issue), so we had a massive preseason going into 2024.
“And then recruit some young kids. (The) first thing I did when I said yes, I made sure I had three or four kids coming over.
And then they knew some kids, and then they knew some kids, and then all of a sudden you’ve got Charlie Mc (Donald), and Rory Desnoy brings Cooper Pasque.
“All of a sudden, you have 15, 19-year-olds, and now they’re 21-year-olds.”
The scenario couldn’t have been any more contrasting at Richmond Crescent when Ned Aulsebrook arrived from Barwon Heads.
In the first full season post-COVID under Ben Boseley, East Geelong claimed the minor premiership before suffering consecutive finals losses.
Tom Cordner-Maas’ lone year in charge in 2023 brought another finals appearance, but a first semi-loss after winning the elimination final.
“The nucleus was there, and ours was obviously starting in a different starting point,” Aulsebrook said.
“We were fairly strong; we just wanted to add a couple of pieces to the puzzle each year.
“Last year, it was myself; Jayden McLauchlan played last year; Jack Dickson was a big part of bringing in some more senior heads in there.
“And then obviously at the start of this year, guys like Andrew Steele and Jeremy Ollis were huge for us.
“And then to have Galen Munari and Jake McLean fall in your lap late in the preseason, that just sort of steadies us up through that part of the ground as well.”
East Geelong will take in the same team that defeated Bell Post Hill in the preliminary final.
North Geelong has made one change, with Terry Tseros the unlucky Magpie making way for the previously reported inclusion of gun midfielder Rory Desnoy.
Click this link to listen to the full podcast with Peter Riccardi and Ned Aulsebrook.
X: @krockfootball
