Winchelsea coach Ben Moloney has revealed how a catch-up with Nathan Buckley is helping drive standards among his club’s coaching staff.
Using a pre-existing relationship from his time as a VFL player at Collingwood in the early stages of Buckley’s coaching tenure at the Magpies, Moloney reached out to the now Geelong assistant coach when he joined the Cats.
“When he got the job at Geelong, I flicked him a text and said, ‘Congratulations. If you’re free, I’d love to just catch up for a coffee,” Moloney told K rock Football’s Beyond the Boundary podcast.
“He just helped me in terms of setting some values that I can hold myself to through the year.
“And I’ve engaged people at the club to monitor that or watch that and then give me feedback on it.
“It’s something that I’ve probably pushed a bit more is about how I can be better or our coaches can be better.
“I had someone come last week who watched us as a coaching group and the playing group, and he just gave us feedback on how we went, and then I relayed that to the coaches and players, but no one knew about that either.
“It’s a good way to sort of see anything that we probably think is fine or normal, but someone else externally not connected to the club goes, ‘Oh, hang on, why are you doing this?’’
Moloney has also tapped into the knowledge of coaches he played in GFNL premierships under at St Mary’s and St Joseph’s.
“I’ve got ‘Keasty’ (Glenn Keast) and ‘Robbo’ (Travis Robertson),” he said.
“And any coach I’ve had, I’ve sort of picked bits from.
“You look at Heath Jamieson. He was one that didn’t put a lot of emphasis on the opposition.
“It was more about us, and that’s something I’ve probably lent into a bit more.
“I was probably more opposition-based last year. This year I’m more about how we can be as good as we can be.
For the first time since entering the GDFNL in 2002, Winchelsea is on top of the ladder entering the final month of home-and-away matches.
The Blues are riding an eight-match winning streak for the first time since 2018, having not lost since the Round 6 defeat by Bell Post Hill.
However, Moloney won’t entertain the thought of Winchelsea playing finals for the first time since 2014 until they are guaranteed to be part of this year’s action at St Albans.
His first concern is reigning grand finalists East Geelong, which handed the Blues their biggest loss of the season by 55 points in Round 4.
That will be followed by meetings with Inverleigh, who remain in finals contention, and the lowly Corio and Geelong West.
Depending on other results, a loss to the Eagles could see Winchelsea drop to fourth.
“Until the home and away’s done, I’m not comfortable with anything,” he said.
“So, I’m not planning for finals yet because we’re not locked in.
“There’s still a tussle at the top. So, for us, we’ve just got to keep winning.
“Ideally the last two games we do win, but Inverleigh seem to turn up at our home every time, and they put on a bloody good show.
“We’re still preparing for this week, and then we’ll work on the next.”
Winchelsea will be boosted by the return of Cassidy Parish from injury, but they have lost Noah Harvey to a shoulder issue.
East Geelong gets back captain John McIntyre and Lachie Zimmer, replacing assistant coach Jeremy Ollis and Jacob Nolan.
North Geelong (4th, 10-4) welcomes back one Riccardi but will be without another for its mouthwatering match-up with the Belmont Lions (5th, 10-4) at Winter Reserve, with the result either hurting or hindering both clubs’ top three hopes.
Osca Riccardi returns after eight weeks on the sidelines with a syndesmosis injury, with Jasper George and Damien Fazio also back.
Boston Riccardi and Brayden Orr are being managed, with Dylan Fisher unlucky to be omitted.
The Lions have replaced Ollie Mayman (hamstring) with Noah Houtsma.
Bannockburn (7th, 8-6) will be boosted by the return of Jack Brauman, Jayme Rekers and Louis Clifton for what’s shaping as an elimination final for the Tigers when it faces Bell Post Hill (6th, 9-5) at Myers Reserve.
A loss for Bannockburn will leave it two games outside of the top five with three rounds to play.
Confirmed outs from the team that lost to the Belmont Lions on Sunday are Jackson Gorman (unavailable) and Luke Young.
The Panthers welcome back Sam Quinn and Henry Verschuren after both missed last week’s loss to Winchelsea, with Harry McIntyre recalled from the reserves for his first senior appearance since Round 7.
They replace Jordan Flaccavento, Cody Chircop and the omitted Tyler Edwards.
The winless Geelong West (12th, 0-14) has made five changes – three forced – as it faces fellow struggler Corio (11th, 1-13) at All In One Services Oval, which looms as the Giants’ best chance to secure its first victory of the season.
Tom Richmund, Riley Croft and last week’s debutant Taj Adams will be missing through injury, while Ayrton Bloink and Ethan Sitlington have been omitted.
Nate Brislan, Riley Seresi-Unsworth, Mick Leamer and captain Zach Rowarth make timely returns, while Bodhi Black has been recalled from the under-18s.
The Devils will be boosted by the return of leading goalkicker Herschelle Carr from injury, with Mikali Harrison also named.
They replace unavailable pair Kade Bergen and Jack Green.
Werribee Centrals (2nd, 11-3) has made five changes as it prepares to snap a three-match losing streak when it hosts Thomson (10th, 3-11) at Symal Oval.
Brodie Taylor will be missing with a fractured ankle, Kur Kur is battling soreness, and Matt Watt is unavailable, while Josh Stone and Zac Pace return to the reserves.
Among the inclusions are Max Ryan, who returns from injury, and overseas travellers Blake Taylor and Jack Stephenson.
Damian Williams has been recalled, with Harrison Fulton earning a senior debut after 46 reserves appearances.
Inverleigh (8th, 8-6) will be without managed duo Dalton Grundell and Casey Meehan for its must-win meeting with Anakie (9th, 3-11).
The Hawks have included Logan Haberfield and Brayden Warren.
The Roos will be boosted by the return of Oscar Barter for his first senior appearance since Round 5, while Nick Hau returns.
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