Cobras ready for more after memorable 2024

“I looked across at Mitch Szabo on the other half-back flank and we both had beaming smiles. We’d played next to each other for the past three years and that was the moment we knew we were gonna win a flag together.”

Founded in 1881, the Canterbury Cobras is amongst the game’s oldest clubs. They joined the VAFA in Division 4 in 2014 and quickly settled in to win the Seniors and Reserves flags in 2015.

They’ve been in Division 3 ever since, rejecting the opportunity to rise to Division 2 when the bottom two VAFA divisions merged at the end of 2023.

“We finished third and therefore qualified to go up under those special circumstances,” said the winner of the Cobras’ past two Best & Fairests, Michael Topp.

“But we made the difficult decision to stay in Division 3 because we had an older senior group, no Under 19s to come through, and we were having our clubrooms refurbished. So, we figured all of those things were going to make the 2024 season challenging enough already.”

Topp has been with the Cobras since 2022 and can’t imagine being anywhere else.

“I’d been with Ferntree Gully my whole career, from juniors through Under-18s to Seniors. I coached the Under 19s there. But I moved to Hawthorn in 2022 and decided to join Canterbury.

“Once you come, you don’t want to leave. We’re very open to anyone & everyone – there’s no entry criteria, no contracts, you’re not forced to be there. You come because you want to. And once you’re in, you don’t leave because of the people.

“We’ve got 18 who volunteered for the committee in 2024, and 15 were players who wanted to put in. It’s hard to describe our culture, but once you’re there, you see others putting in and having a great time doing it. It’s such a friendly and welcoming environment; it’s hard not to want to be involved.”

Given their third-place finish in 2023, the Cobras entered 2024 confident that they could compete.

“Our aim was to play finals for a third straight year,” said Topp. “We wanted to finish Top 3 and get the double chance. We worked towards that all year. Get into the Top 3 and then see where we’re at.”

Canterbury was 7-3 after a loss to North Brunswick in Round 10 but started to get on a bit of a roll despite the high turnover of senior players from week to week.

“It’s a bit of an odd place to play, Canterbury,” said Topp, with a smile.

“We’ve had over 50 players play a game in the Ones in each of the last 2 years.”

While many clubs would view high turnover as a distinct weakness that impacts chemistry and cohesion, Michael sees it as one of his club’s primary strengths.

“We didn’t overcomplicate the way we played. We knew we had a lot of experience & talent who know the big moments & what to do when they come along. We left our gameplan simple enough – just let the players play & bring their best attributes.

“We value being a flexible option for players who may be juggling other things in life and need to take time off during the season. A lot of our players are a bit older and have come to our club after playing in higher grades because we can give them that flexibility. They might have family commitments and can’t be available for all 18 games, plus the strain and stress of other requirements in the higher grades.

“The upside of that is that we tend to have everyone fit at the back end of the season because they’ve been able to take a quick break and freshen up throughout the year as they’ve needed to.”

The Cobras’ aim of finishing Top 3 was scuttled by an agonising 5-point loss to St John’s in Round 16. But, funnily enough, that was also the moment that Topp first realised his team was capable of being in the premiership mix.

“We lost to a very good team in the last five minutes or so,” he recalls.

“We were close, but we knew we were safe in fourth spot, which allowed us to rest a few guys across the last couple of home and away games.”

Sure enough, the Cobras finished fourth which, in the Final 5 system of Division 3, means four cut-throat finals stand between you and the flag – the toughest of all finals roads across the entire VAFA.

“I never thought of it as four sudden-death games,” said Michael.

“I was just happy to rock up and play more finals games. Some players like to earn a week off and rest up, but if you play well, you keep winning and building momentum.”

Canterbury’s first challenge was an Elimination Final against Richmond Central, and things looked grim when they only clung to a 3-point lead at the final change, with the visitors to come home with a strong breeze in the last term.

“I remember walking back to my position thinking ‘What a waste of a season. We’ll have to look forward to Silly Sunday instead.’

“But then we kicked five goals into the breeze in the final quarter – it was amazing. The hunger of our group to fight harder, win the contest and not give in. We could have easily folded over and ended our season right there.

“There was a different feel in the rooms afterwards. We realised we can play good footy when we want to, not just go through the motions.”

The Cobras’ 26-point Elimination Final win earned them a sudden-death First Semi-Final appointment against Power House, who had finished the home & away campaign in third position. Once again, Canterbury found themselves staring down the barrel.

“We were down by a couple of points at half time, but we kept fighting and stuck it out.”

8 goals to 5 in the second half saw the Cobras home by 19 points to earn a Preliminary Final berth against minor premiers North Brunswick, who had received four suspensions following a fiery Second Semi Final loss to St John’s.

“Knowing they had those players out, we felt confident that if we could get on top we could win,” said Topp.

And that’s how it played out. Held goalless in the opening term, Canterbury held North Brunswick scoreless in the second quarter to get their noses in front at the half before crucially kicking 2 goals into the breeze in the third term. 4 unanswered goals in the final quarter saw the Cobras into the Grand Final with a 26-point win.

“For me, the moment of the Grand Final was our quarter time huddle,” Michael reflects.

“St Johns had the breeze in the first quarter and kicked 5 straight. We actually had all the play and momentum but kicked 4.6 into the wind. So, we were dominating but couldn’t get that early scoreboard pressure.

“That first quarter gave us a lot of belief. This is our game if we want it. We can win this.

“We had focused on locking up the contest a bit more during the finals. We’d been freer flowing during the season, but we worked on creating more repeat stoppages during the finals to slow the game down & allow us to set up better and contest harder. Full credit to our coach, Josh Ward, for making that change.”

The next two quarters were a typical Grand Final grind in tough conditions. Canterbury controlled general play but their inability to finish their work saw them boot 2.10 to 4.4 in the middle two quarters (including 7 straight behinds in the second term) to trail by a goal at the last change despite having 9 more scoring shots.

“We had the breeze in the last quarter, so at that last huddle I was thinking the dam wall might break if we can just get ourselves in front. They’ll drop and the game will be ours.”

But the Cobras’ scoring woes continued as they added another six behinds to start the final term.

“I was in the backline, but St John’s weren’t getting it in deep,” Michael recalls. “I kept looking at the scoreboard and the margin was coming down one point at a time. It was tense, but I always felt that if we could hit the front, our boys would relax and be every chance to kick a few in a hurry.”

The breakthrough goal finally came at the 18-minute mark, and fittingly, it came from 200-game, 5-time best & fairest winner Rohan ‘Wombat’ Walmsley, who had missed the Cobras’ 2015 premiership due to a hamstring injury and had cut short a family holiday in Queensland to fly back for his long-awaited shot at a flag.

“As Wombat’s goal sailed through, I remember thinking ‘Don’t take anything for granted,’ but the shift in the game happened pretty quick,” said Michael.

The break in the dam wall that he was hoping for certainly eventuated as Canterbury booted 5 goals in 14 minutes to career away to the club’s second VAFA flag.

“When we went two goals up, a few of us defenders were looking around at each other. I looked across at Mitch Szabo on the other half-back flank and we both had beaming smiles. We’d played next to each other for the past three years and that was the moment we knew we were gonna win a flag together.

“We kicked another to seal it, and we ran over to each other & hugged. It was a really nice last five minutes with the pressure off so we could appreciate & enjoy it. We were still playing the game out, but those moments after a goal allow you to soak up 30 seconds of excitement. We wanted to enjoy that before we all got carried away after the siren.”

It delivered Michael a premiership medal that had been a long time coming.

“I play cricket every summer and I’m 32 years old, so for the past 14 years I’ve been playing two seasons of senior sport each year but have never won a premiership. I missed a cricket flag about ten years ago due to injury and played in two losing Grand Finals. So, this was my first flag since winning a couple of Under 18 premierships at Ferntree Gully.

“I’d been hanging on for a long time for it, to be honest. I contemplated putting footy aside and just playing cricket, but I was still hoping to win one. So, I’m very grateful to Canterbury – both for the club and its people and also for allowing me to finally experience those memories.

“It was really cool. You don’t quite know how to celebrate because you’ve wanted it for so long. The build-up to the Grand Final and the game itself was so much fun.

“All the social media stuff building up to it felt over the top, but we ended up having a few hundred supporters lined up around the ground, which was incredible because for some games during the season, we literally had four supporters there!

“It meant a lot to the club. Only a couple of people had hung on from the last flag, and a lot have come and gone since. We struggled for numbers and financially through COVID and put in a lot of hours for little reward. So, for all those people to be rewarded and see the fruits of that labour was what we all really appreciated in the end. There was a lot of emotion from people connected to the club.”

Coach Josh Ward retired on a high.

“He was playing in the ruck and his body was a struggle,” said Michael, admiringly. “He’s just got married and wants to do some other things.”

Michael joined the selection committee to appoint the new coach.

“We’d had a playing coach for the past three years and that suited our group at the time – another really good player and someone who could lead out on the field.

“But going up a division and playing at that higher level, it’s well and good to have onfield leadership, but you can read and control the game better from the sidelines. So we decided we’d look for a non-playing coach.”

Steve Brown was a standout candidate.

“Steve interviewed well. He has a good background in the VAFA and Southern League as an Assistant and Under 19s coach at a few clubs. He also has the higher-level experience that we don’t have at the club.

“Importantly, he’s a good personable coach who communicates well, understands people, takes the time and effort to get to know them and build relationships. He ticked all the boxes, and it was an easy choice. He’s exactly what we need.”

The selection process also stirred something more in Michael.

“I just love being around the place and want to see it do well. I have a bit of a background in coaching and loved talking footy during the interviews. I knew that the Senior Coach would need plenty of support, so I put my hand up to be his Assistant.”

The Cobras have lost some and gained some players as they prepare to play Division 2 football for the first time.

“Josh Ward retired, as I mentioned,” said Michael. “Reith Fraser and Jayden Cutts have both headed to Queensland, while Brad Kelleher has retired but we might be a chance to get him back at some point. Mitch Szabo won the best & fairest with me and has had a child. He says he’s retiring but hopefully he’ll come back.

“I don’t believe in ‘retirements’ at local level. It’s more ‘I’m not interested at the moment, but maybe when the time is right!’

“Playing at a higher level helps with recruiting and we’ve already got half-a-dozen more on the track than the same time last year. Steve has kept it short and sharp with some key focuses. We’ll have more emphasis on playing quicker with ball in hand, going nice and direct when we have the momentum.”

“Like every team, we want to be competitive and if we can get more buy-in and not have to play 53 players, we can have a more consistent line-up capable of pushing up into the finals mix. We have the team, the structure, the momentum and some success to build upon.

“We’ll aim for the top half of the ladder and look to sneak into finals.”

Michael will approach his new Assistant Coaching role with the same simple philosophy that sums up the essence of the club.

“We’ll play footy, support each other & do our best for the team.”