Dale Hunter and Luke Thorley have no shortage of experience in big games, but this weekend’s Central West AFL grand final presents the Orange Tigers leadership duo with a completely new challenge.
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For Hunter, it’s his first grand final on the other side of the clipboard, the three-time flag-winner taking on the coaching role this season.
For Thorley, Saturday’s decider marks his first grand final appearance as Tigers’ skipper.
With that in mind, just how much a victory this weekend would mean to the pair can’t be underestimated.
“The 2013 flag win was very special for me, just because we were such big underdogs, but it would mean everything to be able to coach a side to a grand final and then to win it,” Hunter said.
“It’s been really different just coaching. As a player, you’re just preparing yourself for a grand final and potentially a premiership win and it’s pretty easy to just look after yourself.
“But coaching obviously needs a different approach because there’s 24 guys to worry about, making sure they’re in the right frame of mind and ready for Saturday.”
“Mate, I hadn’t even given a single thought to being captain before the season, let alone leading a side in a grand final,” Thorley said.
“It is a proud moment, it’s unreal. I was just expecting to come in and play footy again but the boys actually voted me in to skipper, it’s nice to have that kind of faith from your teammates.
“As a first year skipper, winning would mean the world. Coming back from last year, we had a tough year and didn’t make the semi-finals so it’d be unreal to win this one.”
The Tigers had a disappointing 2016, finishing sixth and enjoying little success. After losing a number of key players at the end of that year, few predicted the club’s turnaround to come in 2017.
It did, in a big way, although Hunter and Thorley – both members of the Tigers’ 2015 flag-winning side – were quick to push the praise on everyone else for that resurgence.
“I think Dale and I have combined pretty well, we’re great mates off the field too, and with Andrew Nelson as vice-captain and our leadership group too, but [the turnaround] certainly isn’t down to that,” Thorley said.
“There’s a lot of different factors that have come into it. We’ve picked up a few really good players with a lot of experience outside this region, we’ve had more commitment and consistency at training and that sort of thing, it all helps steady the ship.”
While Hunter will be pulling the strings from the boundary on Saturday, Thorley said his role won’t change. He’s always tried to lead by example, and will do so from the wing again this weekend.
“Hopefully I can do that,” Thorley laughed.
The Tigers face the Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws from 2.30pm.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
