HANWOOD coach Anthony Agresta says their return to the Pascoe Cup this year was the challenge the club desperately needed, revealing they were struggling for motivation in the Griffith competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After last being in the Wagga league in the early 2000's, Griffith was given the green light to return this season at the eleventh hour.
It was met with mixed opinion from rival clubs but there is little doubt their presence will help lift the standard, with their second grade and women's sides to also feature in grand finals at Equex Centre on Sunday.
"Playing here (Griffith) it was getting to the point where people didn't really want to play. We weren't struggling to get numbers, but struggling for motivation more than anything," Agresta said.
"The last four or five years you'd nearly know before the season started that you'd just about be playing in the grand final.
"That Tolland game (1-0 in round 14), they were coming eighth and nearly knocked us off, and they gave us one of our hardest games.
"The good thing has been that competition and evenness of it. It's been fantastic for us, I hope we've done the right thing by everyone and hopefully added another dimension and tried to lift the standard as well.
"There was always going to be push back and that's understandable, it just meant we had to come in and do the right thing. We're coming into their competition, we've mended some bridges.
"Just talking to people on game days they're starting to realise we're not monsters. At the end of the day you shake hands, have a beer and get on with it.
After being told they could join the competition two or three weeks before round one, Hanwood's next job was to ensure they had a squad who could commit to playing out of town every second week.
"We had to work out who could travel, because a lot were committed to just playing here," he said.
"That last couple of weeks was a hectic period. We'd been knocking on the door for the last two or three years and wanted to do everything we can to make it work, hopefully we can build on it and help the competition build on it as well.
"The club's rapt (with three grades in grand finals), we came in about two weeks before the season started and to do what we've done is a pretty good achievement.
"With the men, we expect to do pretty well but the women's is also a big thing, to do what they've done this year is outstanding in its own right."
READ MORE
