PENDLEBURY. A name synonymous with rich history and success at the highest level of Australian football, but no lower in stature among the elite talent pathway. At least, not in the Gippsland Power program.

After Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury helped the region secure its first premiership back in 2005, a 21-year wait would ensure for the next flag. Fittingly, in his first season at the helm, Scott’s elder brother Kris coached the breakthrough team in Saturday’s decider.

That connection was not lost on the rising mentor, who is a product of the Gippsland program himself – via Sale. As it turns out, his family ties helped forge a mid-week message of inspiration for the successful group of players.

“[Scott] has been a great support to me,” Pendlebury said. “I actually had a few of the ex-Gippsland boys that won the flag in 2005 send us a video which I showed on Wednesday night. I had Dale Thomas, Scott, and Tyson Goldsack send the boys a message of support, which was really appreciated.”

While the man known as ‘Daisy’ took out best on ground honours in 2005, another mop of blonde hair caught the eye this time out. It belonged to victorious co-captain Cody Templeton, whose five goals helped inspire his side to overturn a half time deficit.

“He has genuine X-factor and the bigger the game, the better he plays,” Pendlebury said of his skipper. “I’m really pleased that he had a breakout performance and this is what this day’s all about… He’s a genuine match-winner and [I’m] so proud of him.”

While murmurs of the past and individual efforts like Templeton may have paid their part in the second half turnaround, Pendlebury put it down to calm messaging at the main break.

“At half time I went into the boys and said, ‘look, we haven’t played our best’. We were down by seven points so we had a lot of improvement [to make] in the way we were playing, and it was just a really simple message.

“I thought if we could match it with them in the middle and get some good deep looks, our forwards are really dangerous. We just had to give them a chance to do their thing and they did it really well… The boys listened to a T and we put the foot down in the second half which I’m very pleased for.”

An added layer to the midfield equalisation, which helped Gippsland’s forwards thrive, was playing the conditions. A warm day at Whitten Oval meant the magnets were moved in an attempted to keep the Power’s prime movers fresh.

“It was quite hot so we were mindful of that,” Pendlebury said. “Just to spin the magnets, give the boys plenty of rotation and hopefully run over the top of them.

“We’ve got such a different mix in there. We’ve got Blair Roscoe who’s a bit bigger. Judd [Burgiel] who’s strong, Marlon [Neocleous] and Keenan [Boi] bring something different. I think the speed of our midfield was important today.”

The star power and special performances stand out, but minute details and “fundamentals” are what got Gippsland over the line. For a region with limited contact hours and such large expanses to find talent in, their constant ability to punch above their weight has finally drawn another much-deserved flag.

MORE:
Cody Templeton feature
Scouting Notes
Match Report