Flag feature: T-time in 2025

Old Trinity coach and seasoned footy veteran Donald McDonald knew the sick feeling starting to churn inside him all too well.

As he entered a shellshocked room immediately after the 2024 Premier B Preliminary Final, ‘D-Mac’ and his playing group faced a crossroads after they coughed up a 10-point lead entering time-on in the final quarter. They had allowed De La Salle to kick the final three goals of the game into the wind, snatching a Grand Final spot and promotion to Premier Men’s straight out of the T’s pocket. 

Disbelief. Frustration. Anger. Sympathy. Pride. Devastation.

A concoction of mixed emotions that swirl together in a coach’s stomach and rise to the throat as the room hushes in anticipation of the coming post-match address. Will it be an old-fashioned spray that could peel the paint off the walls?

“It’s easy for a coach to unload in that situation,” Donald admits with his typical understated candour.

“Two goals up, kicking with the wind. You shouldn’t lose those games.

“When you’re as old as me, you’ve been through a few different circumstances. I chose not to get anyone offside. Be really positive. We needed the players to stay on board and stay united that night, rather than sink into self-pity, upset after an outburst from me.”

As painful as that missed opportunity was, it also provided a chance to reflect and build for 2025.

“To De La’s credit, they were experienced and up for it. They got off the canvas and made us pay. I was looking more at what I could have done as a coach before I worried about the players. I was more disappointed in myself, which made me reflect on what went wrong, both on the day and in the lead-up.

“We fell apart at the seams, and, tactically, that was my responsibility. De La had spare players sitting back on Hugh Beasley. They outmarked him and rebounded it, and we gave them the exits. They chewed the clock up and held possession. That was within my ability to get our structure better and make our team better through tactics.

“We also probably played players who weren’t fit and couldn’t sustain the effort for the entire journey against good opposition. Another painful lesson learned.

“It was a reflective piece for me and led to us putting some things in place for this season. I was clear with the players throughout the pre-season about, ‘Hey, if we improve in these two or three areas, that’s the difference between A-Grade and us.’

“That loss to De La wasn’t a talent thing; it was an execution thing. And execution can always be fixed, so that was a confidence booster for us. We’d proved that we’re good enough. It’s within reach. We just need to improve a couple of things. Draw a line in the sand after that game and raise those standards.

“We never ever spoke about finals during the pre-season. It was more about being better in those two or three areas – gameplan stuff – and as coaches and fitness guys, our responsibility to the players was to prepare them better. Make training really worthwhile. Get the players better prepared to make better decisions under the intense pressure of the dying stages of a big Final. Pre-season was basically about that.”

But when Round 1 finally arrived after a long summer of planning to atone, the T’s looked anything but a premiership contender as they trailed Old Camberwell by 41 points at three-quarter time. Where was the belief they’d been building?

Suddenly, it sprang to life, and Donald’s outfit unleashed a withering final quarter on the Wellers, booting 7.5 to 1.1 to close within a single point at the 29-minute mark. The siren would sound with the T’s still a point shy, but the entire story of the season changed in just half an hour of football.

“We should have won that Round 1 game,” Donald concedes. “We kicked three posters in the final quarter and just fell short. But it showed me that even when we weren’t playing well, we could still find a way to compete and, more often than not, win.

“We got a lot of confidence from that, and our ability to compete when below our best held us in great stead throughout the year in games like Caulfield and Williamstown (5- and 1-point wins, respectively).”

One of the great things about coaching is that everyone does it a little differently. Some base their season around themes, using them as the common thread to bring their group back to what matters most.

Donald isn’t one of those.

“Nah, I’m not super big on themes,” he chuckles.

“People go on camps and come back with themes. A lot of great clubs use themes and values.  But as a coach, you’ve got to make sure you’re authentic, or the players will see through it. If I came up with a theme but then didn’t coach to it or measure ourselves against it, what’s the point?

“So we just focus on a few areas that we rate highly, and make sure our coaching and playing group are all on the same page with those. They’re pretty basic. Nothing’s more important to an individual than his teammates, for example. A ‘team-first’ attitude is the Number #1 thing we need. It’s a team sport.

“So we need to educate our people on what ‘team-first’ actually looks like. Sometimes that takes two or three years. That’s what it’s been with us. We nearly got relegated in my first year. We had to turn to all our young blokes to really buy in. It’s taken time, but it’s come to fruition.

“Another is contested ball. Whether you like it or not, the game is centred around contested ball. And to win contested possessions, you’ve got to be the aggressor. If you don’t have an appetite to win the ball or tackle someone, you’re going to be in a bit of trouble.

“And bottom line – you need talent. It’s hard in the VAFA. You can’t just go and recruit five or six ex-VFL or AFL players. We don’t have that luxury. We’ve got to build from within and then keep our players.”

Old Trinity quickly established itself as the contender most expected in 2025, bouncing back from that 1-point loss in the opening round to win 10 of their next 11 games, with their only blemish in three months of football being an 8-point loss to Old Geelong, despite being repeatedly challenged and finding ways to win tight contests.

The double-bye came at a bad time for the T’s, who stumbled immediately afterwards, losing a close one to Old Carey.

“We didn’t handle that very well. Old Carey beat us there, and we looked a bit vulnerable. I remember looking at the fixture and thinking, ‘We could miss out here,’ because the whole comp was just so tight. There was very little margin for error.

“But the way we responded to that Carey loss was really good. We were able to beat some good sides – not convincingly, but we did what we had to do to give ourselves an opportunity to qualify in the Top 2. Given how close the comp was, that double chance felt so crucial.”

It all came down to the final fortnight of the home and away season, with all eyes locked on the Top 2 Round 17 clash between the T’s and Old Ivanhoe, with the winner to kick a game clear with one to play.

Old Trinity’s habit of finding ways to win close ones held them in good stead once again.

A goal down at half time, then 4 points up at the final change, the T’s needed to dig in when the Hoers hit the front 10 minutes into the last term, and with the breeze at their back. But goals to George Belcher and young gun Boston Dowling ultimately got them home by two straight kicks.

A 16-point loss to Caulfield Grammarians in the final round would cost the T’s the minor premiership, but most importantly, they qualified safely in second spot and prepared to face Old Ivanhoe again in the Second Semi Final.

“The main difference between finals and home and away games is that you have to front up and play the best sides every week. Every game is against the best teams, with the best umpires. That – and the fact that Aunty Mary might come along to watch, having not seen you play for three years – are really the only differences. It’s still a game of footy you’ve got to win.”

Second Semi-Final day was another blustery one, and momentum swings were clearly linked to the breeze. The T’s had it first and led by 20 points at quarter time, but the Hoers stormed back with 6 second-quarter goals and were ahead by 10 points at the half. Old Trinity returned the favour with 6 of their own in the third term to lead by 16 points at the last change.

“There’s always wind in September, and you’ve got to use it. It’s so costly if you kick 1.6 with it, then your opponent kicks 6.1 when it’s their turn.

“We went in pretty big – Thompson, Dowling, Beasley – and we weren’t getting much of a return from our big fellas because of the wind, and we didn’t make the most of our opportunities. But Old Ivanhoe were fantastic. They played some of the best footy of the year in those second and third quarters, and at three-quarter time, would have thought they had us.”

Another key moment in the season had arrived for Donald McDonald’s men.

“What we’d done in challenging circumstances throughout the season gave us the confidence that we could close out the game against Old Ivanhoe. In the end, it was our young defenders who stood up. Guys like Ben Littlefield, James Ingpen, Tom Ferrier and Sam Phillips were amazing in that last quarter.

“As it happened, we kicked two goals in time-on and held them goalless with the breeze.”

That 17-point win sent Old Trinity straight through to Grand Final Day.

“That was so important. If we’d lost to Old Ivanhoe, we would have come up against the First Semi Final winner, who would be carrying momentum from that win.

“So I wasn’t surprised when Caulfield beat Ivanhoe in the Prelim. They just needed their best team out on the park. They are a really good side with a fantastic defence, and ‘Satts’ (Paul Satterley) is a really experienced coach. I coached him at Werribee for five years, so we know each other well.”

The Fields could barely have been more impressive in their 59-point victory over the Hoers in the Preliminary Final, setting the scene for an intriguing Grand Final showdown after the minor premiers were knocked out in straight sets.

Caulfield had confidence after beating the T’s in the final round just three weeks earlier, and Donald faced some tricky September selection decisions once again.

“Yeah, we had some really hard choices. Caulfield had won 9 of their last 10 and were running super-hot in their two previous finals. So, we knew the Grand Final was going to be ‘game on.’ But that Preliminary Final experience of 2024 straightened me up a bit and made those selection decisions a little easier. We weren’t going to make the same mistake again.”

Donald’s pre-game address on Grand Final Day was true to his usual style.

“My message is always pretty consistent,” Donald chuckled. “No Churchillian pre-game speeches from me. I’ve got a pretty stock-standard message that is all about reinforcing players’ roles. There’s nothing glamorous about it.

“You need 22 players who are not only clear about their role, but also their teammates’ roles. They have to be able to communicate in the heat of battle. If someone’s not concentrating, their teammate has to help get their head back into the game.

“I can hype them up, but then they run down the race, line up for the anthem, and have another warm-up before the ball is bounced. So, they need to be able to help each other stay in the game, and full credit to the way our boys came out in the first half.”

It was an unusually still day, which suited Old Trinity, given their healthy stock of talls, and the T’s got great early service from Harry Thompson and Boston Dowling tag-teaming in the ruck, winning all 6 centre clearances in the first quarter.

Despite Caulfield having the territory edge with the breeze (15 Inside 50s to 10), it was the T’s who led by 3 points at the first change.

The second term proved to be crucial as Old Trinity took control around the contest, dominating the inside game (21 Clearances to 8 for the quarter), converting that into territory (19 Inside 50s to 9), and capitalising on the scoreboard with 7.2 to 2.0 after they rammed on 4 goals in 6 minutes from the 22-minute mark to hamper the Fields’ efforts to stay in touch.

“Our big guys really came to the fore in that second quarter, and full credit to our mids, who were fantastic all year. They won contest after contest and gave our big blokes chances one-out,” glowed Donald.

“Given the match replays and Premier Data stats we get each week, it’s difficult to pull out a surprise tactic the opposition hasn’t seen before at that stage of a season. As a coach, you don’t have to dump all of that information on your players, but it is important that they know and understand some things about how the opposition plays and how we match up against them.

“The level of coaching in Premier B this season was outstanding, and that was reflected in the quality of play. So for us, it wasn’t about surprising Caulfield with anything different. It was about doing what we do so well that they can’t stop us.”

Caulfield Grammarians coach Paul Satterley agreed.

“Their talls were amazing.

“In contested footy – an area we’d been really good at – Old Trinity really matched it in that space, and they stifled our run and ability to get into open space and test them.”

The T’s held a commanding 35-point half-time lead, and their contested dominance allowed them to limit the damage the Fields could do with the wind in the third quarter, holding them to 3.4 to 0.4. 

Still, Caulfield had halved the deficit to 17 points at the final change, so the contest remained alive heading into the last term, when the T’s would have the breeze at their backs.

When Boston Dowling took the ball from the ruck and snapped a goal 2 minutes into the final quarter, the margin was out to 23 points. To their credit, the Fields muscled up on the inside, started winning more clearances, and tackled desperately to try and turn the tide.

Jack Ellwood’s goal at the 21-minute mark reduced the margin to 17 points, and when Connor Cooke added another at the 29-minute mark, it was back to a two-goal game.

Flashbacks of the 2024 Preliminary Final – when they had coughed up a late lead – entered Donald’s mind. Was history about to repeat itself?

“The game is never won. Things happen, and you can lose them in a minute. The margin was still close enough, and I could hear the energy from their bench. Suddenly, they believed they could win it. I nearly lost my marbles, but I had to really make sure I was on the job, and I kept my composure better than in 2024,” Donald recalls.

Another lesson learned.

His players also learned from 2024’s September agony. They steadied, kept their composure, and closed the game out. The siren sounded with Old Trinity 12 points ahead and premiers for the first time since 1999.

“It was good to see how the boys stood up. Unless you win something, people can question you. The club had a strong period pre-COVID, then got knocked about. When they dropped from A-Grade to B-Grade in 2023, some people thought elevation back up to the top grade was just gonna happen. But they lost the coach, and there was a bit of off-field turmoil.

“But the way that group of players stuck by the club, along with some great people off the field, they got what they deserved this year. It was genuine satisfaction. They earned the right during the season and then put in a solid four-quarter effort to win it on Grand Final Day.

“Getting into finals is a good measurement. It means your club is on the right track. Just making finals is undervalued, and in the Ammos, it’s cut-throat, given that 40% of your section changes every year as teams go up and down.

“But flags are even tougher. I played in some junior premierships as a young bloke, then I missed out on a flag when I was captain of the Under 17s, as I was also playing for North Melbourne Under 19s at the time. I got to a Prelim with North as a player, then as a coach I won a flag and lost one at Werribee, then won one at Box Hill. But that’s across fifty years involved in footy. They’re hard to get!”

“Our players play for the love of it and play for their mates – we’re very much team-first. We’re close off the field as a group, and as I mentioned before, sometimes you have to teach players what it really means to be a good team-mate on the field as well.

“We’ve got a good brotherhood amongst our playing group. They’re young, but we have a good group culture. Trinity isn’t as big on footy as other APS schools, so that’s a challenge. Unless you can get players coming from outside the school, it makes it tougher. It’s a reason why we’ve never won an A-grade flag.

“That’s not an overnight fix, and I look at the likes of Wardy (Daniel Ward) and Hutchy (Greg Hutchison) and the way their programs focused on strengthening the relationship with their schools (at Haileybury and Brighton Grammar) and admire the way they identified those challenges and worked with others at their club to mould it accordingly.

“We need to find a model that suits Trinity and not copy someone else’s model. Let’s find what we are, and we’ve still got to really identify what that is. That’s the next step in our evolution.

“It will be largely driven by our players, especially the younger ones. If our young blokes don’t step up, we’ll be back in B-Grade with a rocket. De La Salle’s experience this year showed how hard Premier Men’s is. Guys like Charlie Beasley and Lachie Mulcahy are ready to step up. They have the leadership potential to join our established leaders.

“And they’ll need to. Harry Thompson has moved to England for work, and hopefully might come back later in the year. Ed Weatherson has been one of the great players in our club’s history. He’s retired, so that’s a huge loss, and we can’t just fill that hole. Hugh Beasley’s gone to Mooroolbark as an assistant coach, and we were fortunate to have him for a couple of years.

“Our priority is retaining as many players as we can. We’re going to be a pretty young side, so we’re looking for some experienced players. Our challenge is whether our players can handle the heat that will definitely come. We still have a lot of players on our list from the last time we were in A-Grade, and they had a pretty ordinary experience.

“So we must confront that, know what it looks like and then step up to the plate. We just have to focus on the controllables. In terms of expectations, there won’t be any on us. Our focus will be on doing. Commit to it.

“We have a good understanding of what we need to do gameplan-wise, and we’ll keep building on that. It’s going to be about adapting as quickly as we can. We won’t know until Round 1 what we’re up against. VFL players will come in and out of teams throughout the year, so you can cop a super strong side one week and a slightly weakened one the next.

“We don’t have any of those strong VFL players, but we certainly have a few youngsters with that potential upside. We’ve just got to be prepared and embrace the challenge. We’re going to need some of those blokes to turn it on for us next year.

“We know we’ll come up against good sides. But that’s a great challenge. You either embrace it or be a bit insulated and get booted straight back to B-Grade.

“And sure, it’s easier to stay down in B or C-Grade, but we said three years ago when we were fighting just to stay in B-Grade, that we want to be a regular A-Grade team. That’s our goal. If you don’t have those expectations, what are you doing?”