When the final siren goes at the Queen Elizabeth Oval on Friday night, it won’t just signify the end to a regular home and away match.
A significant chapter of the Peter Jackson VFL history books will also come to an end as Bendigo Gold will no longer be a part of the competition.
After joining the league in 1998 and going through a number of incarnations the Gold will cease to exist.
With the announcement that the Gold would not renew its VFL licence being made in June, the character and unity of the playing group and staff has shone through as they continued to front up and give the club everything they had.
Bendigo Gold coach Aussie Jones can’t speak highly enough of how the people involved with the club have handled themselves throughout the season.
“The people have been absolutely amazing in this footy club as is their resilience to get through the time that we have had and still have a smile on their face,” Jones told the VFL Podcast.
While Jones acknowledges that he along with Chairman Tim Dickson have been the public face of the club, there are plenty of people behind the scenes that deserve the same kudos that he and Dickson have received.
“Wal Thelen our footy manager has been enormous over the time, along with the volunteers like Ken Lynch and Sean Rashleigh.
“Paul Seery (Director of Fitness) is very under estimated for what he has been able to do.
“We are a really young and inexperienced group yet he has been able to keep us fit and we are not getting soft tissue injuries.
“Theo Kappa is another one, he is our guru physio that works pretty close with Paul and myself to make sure these young boys get everything they need.”
As the final game has edged closer the feeling around the club has remarkably still been positive.
“I suppose some of the older more experienced people at the club are just waiting for this young group to hit a brick wall but they just seem to have an endless amount of energy and enthusiasm for the game,” Jones said.
“I am sure from the team meeting and onwards on Friday it will be a bit emotional as the reality hits a few of the boys.”
The Gold has come agonisingly close to a maiden win for 2014, falling just short against Northern Blues and Casey. Jones is hoping for the fairy-tale finish when they face Collingwood on Friday night.
“Everyone in our footy club would absolutely love a win, I am not sure if desperate is the right word but it’s pretty close to it.
“We are such a young and inexperienced group so we are always just aiming for consistency and a genuine four quarter performance. If we can string it together, miracles do happen in sport, so who knows what might happen on Friday night.”
For Jones, the end result on the scoreboard doesn’t really matter so much if the effort and energy is there from his young chargers.
“To be honest in games that we have sorted felt that we may have been a chance and we discuss the end result we have performed pretty poorly, so we just need to break it down.
“We will work on a lot of the stuff that we did well in the second half against Box Hill.”
One can only hope that fairy-tales do come true as Bendigo Gold run out for the very last time.
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CLICK HERE to listen to the full interview with Aussie Jones
See below a video from ABC TV last week
Last Modified on 22/08/2014 12:14