AMID ALL the acrimony generated by Wonthaggi's refusal to leave the Alberton league, a good news football story has emerged in south Gippsland. For just the second time since its last premiership in 1983, Stony Creek has made the finals.
Adding to the heart-warming nature of the tale, it is clear the club's improvement is not the result of a misguided attempt to buy a long-awaited flag. Rather, its success in 2009 is the result of a long and painstaking rebuild, which has saved an organisation that seemed destined for oblivion.
There was once a thriving town at Stony Creek, but nowadays the locals, mostly farmers, do their business in the bustling centre of Leongatha, 30 kilometres away.
As a result, Stony Creek has been reduced to a small collection of houses [the population is around 40], and a racecourse, which hosts five popular meetings each year. It certainly doesn't sound like the sort of place you would find a high-flying football club. Until recently it wasn't.
Stony Creek's footy-related history dates back to 1911, and the local club enjoyed a smattering of success until it was split down the middle in the mid-1980s. Back then, many of the Maroons' players and supporters lived in the Tarwin area, closer to the coast. But in 1986, the Tarwin contingent became tired of the sub-standard facilities at Stony Creek.
A proposal was tabled to relocate the club from its muddy oval inside the racecourse to a redeveloped Tarwin Recreation Reserve. A name change to the Stony Creek-Tarwin Football Club was mooted. The plan was rejected at the annual general meeting in November '86. Three weeks later, the Tarwin folk met in a local pub and formed their own club. Eventually admitted into the Alberton league in 1988, the Tarwin Sharks have recovered from a shaky start to become regular finalists, winning the premiership in 2004.
For Stony Creek, however, the split was a disaster. The Maroons were soon reduced to a rabble and their senior team finished on the bottom of the ladder six times in the '90s. In five of those years it failed to win a game. Further wooden spoons followed in 2000 and 2001.
''We created a lot of league records,'' admits Stony Creek president Greg Burge. ''But they're all scores against us. Some weeks we had kids playing three games. It was a matter of working together to survive. In the end I think we all bonded through it.''
Along with the unbreakable commitment of Stony Creek's most loyal supporters, the club's eventual climb back to respectability was powered by a focus on luring junior players.
''We run a bus for our juniors from Leongatha, to encourage kids to play for us and parents to be involved,'' Burge explains. ''We've got Meeniyan two kilometres down the road, so it's all about getting these kids before someone else does. I'd say 14 or 15 players in our senior side have come through our juniors, so it's really setting us up for the future.''
A series of improvements at the local recreation reserve, along with some careful financial management, also helped the Maroons assemble a competitive team in 2004. With the likes of midfielder Brad Hutchinson leading the way, they made the finals for the first time in 21 years.
Stony Creek slipped back into the bottom half of the ladder in the following two seasons, but was always competitive. This helped encourage talented onballer Leigh McQuillan, whose wandering career includes stints at Sebastopol, Frankston in the VFL, Cora Lynn, Rosebud and Belgrave, to sign on as coach in late 2006.
During his three years at the helm, McQuillan has patiently built the Maroons into a team capable of mixing it with powerful rivals like Wonthaggi Power, Korumburra-Bena and Yarram. Many of his recruits have come from the booming suburbs on Melbourne's south-eastern fringe. The team often trains in Cranbourne on Tuesday nights.
After winning seven games in 2007, then nine last year, Burge says Stony Creek began its 2009 campaign ''expecting to make the finals''. If opposition clubs scoffed at the thought, they were forced to reconsider when Stony won its first six games, a run that included an 82-point thrashing of flag-favourite, Wonthaggi. Having ended the home-and-away matches in third place, with a 14-4 win-loss record, the Maroons achieved an important milestone last Saturday when they took on sixth-placed Phillip Island in an elimination final.
''The boys are really excited,'' McQuillan said before the match. ''They're all pumped about it. The place is abuzz.''
Given Phillip Island had thrashed their team just two weeks earlier, the Stony Creek supporters nervously watched the opening stages, although they roared to life when spearhead Lucas McMillan booted the opening goal.
With McQuillan forced to watch on from the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, midfielder Kyle Van Der Pluym and small forward Justin Shields led the way for the Maroons. If not for inaccurate kicking, they might have enjoyed a big lead at the long break. Instead, the margin was only 22 points, but some tension was diffused as McQuillan began seeking feedback from his players.
''What's their ruckman doing?'' the coach asked 21-year-old big man Brenton Byrnes. ''F--- all,'' came the reply. The many supporters watching on roared with laughter.
When everyone had calmed down, McQuillan delivered a softly-spoken message, focusing on a high tackle count, before the Maroons headed out for the second half.
A perennial finalist, Phillip Island refused to let its season die without a fight and only 17 points separated the teams at the final change. But with Byrnes dominating in the ruck, Stony Creek finally kicked away. The sound of car horns was deafening after the final siren heralded a five-goal win.
The players were joined in the change rooms by a Maroon army, each member wearing a huge smile. Hutchinson, a school teacher who grew up in Melbourne's eastern suburbs but now lives at Stony Creek, soaked up the joyous atmosphere.
''It's a great thing for all the people who've been around the club for a long time,'' said the four-time best-and-fairest. ''It's pay-back for all those guys.''
Today, the Maroons get another moment in the spotlight when they meet Yarram in the first semi-final at Inverloch.
Whipping boys for so long, Stony Creek could this evening be within one victory of a fairytale berth in the grand final.
Article first appeared The Sunday Age
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