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WODONGA should move heaven and earth to try to land Brendan Fevola as coach for next year.O and M coach Brendan Fevola is the biggest star in the league and wants to take a top job — making him ideal for Wodonga.
WODONGA should move heaven and earth to try to land Brendan Fevola as coach for next year.
It’s an ambitious move — far-fetched, even — but one the Bulldogs could possibly pull off if they got their pitch to the former AFL star right.
What have they got to lose?
Firstly, let’s make a few things clear.
Fevola loves Yarrawonga and it's hard to see him playing at any other Ovens and Murray club.
He has led the Pigeons to back-to-back flags as their marquee player and could yet make it three in three years, should he fire at the business end of the season.
Fevola’s legacy at J.C. Lowe Oval is undoubtedly assured.
But he also wants to coach — he has said that on a regular basis.
Will he get that chance at Yarrawonga?
With Drew Barnes just about the best playing coach in the business, and going nowhere, it makes it difficult to see Fevola getting the top job at Pigeonland.
Chris Kennedy is stepping aside at the end of the season, but the Pigeons seem more likely than not to replace him with another off-field mentor.
Would Yarrawonga go down the same path as rival Albury and field two playing coaches?
Who knows?
Regardless, it is so far, so good, for Fevola in the coaching box.
He got a massive tick coaching the Ovens and Murray earlier this year.
A record-breaking 125-point win over the Hampden league, the O and M’s greatest ever winning margin at representative level, is proof of that.
Sure, he had the cattle at his disposal that day but would that cattle have been there if he wasn’t coaching?
I doubt it.
Ben Hollands has been one of the best players the league has seen since the turn of the century, but has faced some massive challenges financially and on both the recruiting and injury fronts during his four-year tenure.
The Bulldogs have a lot of great competitors at the club, but they are undoubtedly short on star factor.
Fevola is the biggest star in the league.
Wodonga is one of the league’s traditional powerhouses but is in desperate need of a boost off the field as much as on it.
Landing Fevola as coach would be the biggest boost imaginable.
Will it happen? Of course, it’s unlikely.
Could it happen? Absolutely.
WHAT'S HOT?
GIBSON Turner.
The former Richmond rookie wasted little time winning over the North Albury faithful with his heroics at Bunton Park on Saturday. Turner, playing his first game for the Hoppers, kicked four valuable goals in the wet, including, of course, the winner after the siren. Along with fellow recruit Patrick Heenan, the pair came up big when it counted. Turner showed enough on Saturday to suggest he’ll tear a few games apart before the season is done and dusted.
WHAT'S NOT?
IT’S hard not to feel for Wodonga.
The Bulldogs looked set to end a 13-match losing streak and score their first win of season 2014 on Saturday. They were in front when the final siren sounded. However, in the most cruel fashion imaginable, the Bulldogs had victory ripped away from them with a goal after the siren. One thing is for sure, they’re getting closer to singing the song. The Wodonga derby after this week’s bye looks the perfect chance for the Dogs to break the drought.
