LIAM DURKIN
FOOTBALL
MID GIPPSLAND
By LIAM DURKIN
PETER Ainsworth played in a senior grand final 22 years ago.
He is now just one win away from playing in his next one.
Talk about a long time coming.
Ainsworth’s Newborough meet Tarwin this Saturday for a place in the Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League decider.
Making the grand final would have been a mere fantasy after the Bulldogs finished 10th on the ladder last season.
Talk about quickly turning things around.
With the second qualifying final only a few days’ away, Ainsworth said the thought of getting back on the big stage was hard to escape.
“It has been in the back of my mind,” he said.
“Finishing top-two you are always a good chance to make the grand final, you get two cracks at it (with the double chance).
“The boys have been playing pretty well. I think if we bring our A Game we can definitely get in.”
Ainsworth’s last senior grand final came during his days playing for Moe in the Gippsland League.
He played 364 senior games for the Lions and was only 10 shy of the Gippsland League record when he departed to take the senior coaching job at Newborough in 2020.
The Bulldogs battled manfully during two stop-start season’s under Ainsworth’s coaching, fielding a team with an average age of just 22, making them quite possibly the youngest senior side in Gippsland.
Naturally, wins were scarce for the inexperienced and often hopelessly undersized Bulldog pups, who also had to fight off external noise from people saying they couldn’t recall a time the traditional Mid Gippsland powerhouse had struggled so badly.
What the scoreboard didn’t show however was the growth and development in certain players.
Joel Mitchell won the league goal kicking in 2021, Alex Skinner became one of the competitions most respected captains, and Liam Flahavin improved out of sight, to the point he has been listed in the best nine times this season.
Having stuck through the hard times, those players are all set to be rewarded with a senior final this weekend.
The Bulldogs lured club legend Craig Skinner back to coach this season, and with a host of former players also returning, Newborough’s fortunes skyrocketed.
“It was tough last year, but with players coming back that had previously played juniors here, it has just made the group stronger and a lot more consistent, it shows in our results,” Ainsworth said.
The increased depth has allowed Ainsworth to play mostly across half forward this season, where he has chipped in with 17 goals.
Speaking of depth, the Bulldogs’ reserves are also only one win away from a grand final, and will head into their qualifying match with an unbeaten record.
Having played in over 10 finals series with Moe, Ainsworth had some advice for teammates that might be getting anxious.
“Just keep doing what you have been doing during the season,” he said.
“It’s another game but the pressure steps up a bit.
“If you just do what you’ve been doing to get to this point I think it holds you in good stead.”
For Ainsworth, who won five senior best-and-fairests at Moe and played in a reserves flag, a senior premiership looks like the final item on the football bucket list.
“The reason I came over here to coach was to win a flag, to win one as a player at my age is something I probably wouldn’t think would happen,” he said.
Newborough enters this Saturday’s qualifying-final fresh off a two-week break.
The Bulldogs match against Tarwin starts at 2.20pm at Stony Creek.
