By Lance Jenkinson
You are 15 minutes removed from seeing your team’s Western Region Football League division 1 premiership dreams go up in smoke, so you are devastated, right?
Well, not so Hoppers Crossing coach Steve Kretiuk, who took a different take on the sadness felt by his players after their 48-point loss to six-time defending champions Deer Park in the grand final at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday.
Kretiuk preferred to focus on the many positives to come out of the season, rather than dwell on 120 minutes of football that largely did not go his team’s way.
Few of the experts would have given Hoppers Crossing a chance of featuring in the grand final at the start of the season.
The Warriors had a number of key players exit the club and that was compounded in the pre-season by some devastating injuries.
In making the grand final, some believe the Warriors over achieved, or at least had success before their time.
Even Kretiuk conceded at times during the tough early rounds of the season that a grand final appearance was an extreme long shot.
So, while his players could hardly bear to watch as the Deer Park players celebrated on the podium at Chirnside Park, Kretiuk kept his emotions in check and stood proudly for what his team had achieved, not what it had lost.
“I think it’s the opposite [of devastation], it’s a proud day for the club,” Kretiuk said.
“A lot of people wrote us off and didn’t even think we’d make the finals this year, so for us it’s about a celebration.
“We got the opportunity to give our guys a chance to play on the big stage.
“They’ll learn from it and they’ll get better from it.”
Local football moves quickly these days.
Preparations for 2019 start in the week following the season decider for the grand final sides.
While Kretiuk is upbeat about what his young team achieved in 2018, he is still apprehensive about what it means for Hoppers Crossing’s future.
Sustained success is the hardest for any club in an increasingly competitive WRFL top flight.
The Warriors have done a great job of staying competitive in Kretiuk’s five years at the helm, featuring in a semi-final, two preliminary finals and two grand finals.
Kretiuk is a realist though, knowing the gap between the best side, Deer Park, and the rest, is still large. For Hoppers Crossing to continue challenging for the premiership, it will need to operate more ruthlessly off the field.
The Warriors are admired for their fast tracking of youth and getting the best out of their players, but they need to start attracting some big name recruits if they are to add to their two division 1 premierships.
“Something the club needs to get better at is professionalism off the field,” Kretiuk said.
“Make sure we’ve got the right program away from [the] footy [department] so that we can seek out some experienced players.
“We had the opportunity in 2016 after making the grand final against Deer Park and the club probably expected that we’d have natural progression, but it’s never a given that players are going to improve or we get better as a side, so we need to keep topping up our list and making sure we’re putting pressure on the players that are playing.”
With the lack of depth brought about by departed players and long term injuries, Kretiuk felt that some players had coasted through the season and needed to work harder to bridge the gap on Deer Park.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in this side that aren’t up to playing this brand of footy because of their preparation,” Kretiuk said. “They’ve either got to step up pre-season or they’re going to find themselves down a level.
“These guys have a fair bit of work to do over the pre-season to match it with the better sides.”
Kretiuk is back on board for a sixth season as coach in 2019.
