By Matt Fotia
North Ringwood senior coach Robin Nahas believes his young side has the talent to stay in the Eastern Football Netball League’s Premier Division, but says they must learn to win, following the Saints second victory of 2021, against 2019 runners-up Blackburn at Morton Park.
The Saints trailed at halftime before a six goal to three second half saw them run out 12 point winners, 10.8(68) to 7.14(56), with Billy Schilling’s three goals a major factor in the Saints keeping Blackburn winless at home in 2021.
What was the immediate feeling after the final siren for Nahas?
“Relief.”
The Saints coach expected a performance from his side, after they were embarrassed by Noble Park to the tune of 86 points in Round 10, and was more than pleased with the one he got on Saturday.
“We knew after last week – when we got pumped by a really good Noble Park side – that we didn’t come to play in any way shape or form,”
“(So, this week) for me as a coach, it’s relief to win, but more relief that the effort was there, because it really could’ve gone either way after that loss (to Noble Park) but the boys showed good spirit.”
When a side is belted like the Saints were in Round 10, the buck stops at the top.
And the first year coach wasn’t going to shy away from the responsibility, owning his poor performance as a coach against the Bulls.
“I was poor as a coach and a player against Noble Park,”
“It’s very difficult sometimes being a player coach, having to play and make sure everyone else is doing their job, and when I was lacking in terms of my coaching, that reflected onto the rest of the group,”
“So, I took majority of the responsibility, especially in terms of attitude because I thought mine was really poor, so first and foremost I apologised for my game and the way I went about it.”
North Ringwood have been pleasing to the eye for the majority of the season so far, with Nahas bringing a high octane style to Quambee Reserve, but much like Carlton in the big leagues, there are periods of the game where they just can’t stop their opponents momentum, and it’s hurting the Saints, who now sit 11th by percentage only, behind Berwick and Doncaster East, with a 2-6 record.
“We’ve been a pretty brave and entertaining side; we’ve just had lapses for five minutes in a quarter here or there and we just can’t seem to stem the flow.”
Nahas’ review of his sides losses to Vermont, Norwood and Rowville have all been fairly positive, with those crucial lapses the difference between losing and winning for his young outfit.
“We’ve lost to Norwood where we hit the front in the third quarter and got blown away in the last, we hit the front in the third quarter against Vermont and got blown away in the last and hit the front against Rowville and got blown away in the last, there’s three games where we were leading in the third quarter,”
“Our last quarters and our inability to know how to win, isn’t really a reflection of how we’ve been going on the whole,”
“We’ve been thereabouts, with a young group, who don’t know how to win really, and sometimes it becomes a little bit big and when a side gets a roll on, you can drop your heads and get used to losing, and I think we have been getting used to losing the last three seasons or so.”
Saturday’s win is hopefully a step away from being a side that is used to losing and one towards a winning mentality for the Saints, who should garner some real belief from their win, despite the fact Blackburn were missing a number of key players including Mackenzie Doreian and Ryan Bathie.
“It should give them belief, you’d hope so with being able to come back and score quickly too,”
“I’m under no illusion – Blackburn weren’t at their best – but you can only beat what’s in front of you,”
“Our group has got the talent, it’s whether we can believe that we’re good enough for long enough and hopefully it (the win) builds some momentum.”
Momentum, combined with one or two other key things, will be key to the Saints staying in the Premier Division for 2022 and beyond and Nahas is well aware of it as he eyes some winnable fixtures in the near future, starting with a trip to Schramms Reserve to take on Doncaster this weekend.
“Desire and effort,”
“All sides are going to have their opportunities, but it’s whether or not you’re able to stem the flow when the opposition has a run on and whether or not you’re able to dig deep for long periods of time.”