Quirk’s Magpie pride

Dylan Quirk gets a kick away during a game earlier this season. 180053 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

By Nick Creely

Narre Warren skipper Dylan Quirk feels great pride when he runs out in the black and white jumper with his ladder leading teammates in 2018.

Quirk understands that all eyes will be on the Magpies with just four rounds to play before the last ever SEFNL finals, and admits to being somewhat surprised by how far his side has come this season.

“It’s a good place to be around at the moment, even though we haven’t really had a home base, so we’ve been training at Sweeney so it’s been a bit of a different year,” he said.

“I couldn’t be any prouder to be honest.”

With his Magpies all but clear at the top of the table (two games clear of Berwick and percentage), Quirk said from a personnel level, he’s been blown away just how much talent is within the list.

“I look at the list, and we’ve had some stars this year on VFL lists – Mitch Cox, Cory Machaya, Aaron Wilson, Jesse Davies are genuine A-graders of the competition. We’ve had them for the majority of the year, and selfishly I hope we have them until the end,” he said.

“Our list’s been pretty impressive when we’ve had everyone available, and that obviously helps as well when you’ve got a couple of kids going well too.

“Ryan (Quirk) is having a good year, Tommy Miller’s been very good, and the young Haileybury boys in Jack Toner and Pete Gentile adds the final coat to the topping, which we’ve probably not had the last few years.”

Developing youth has been high on the agenda at Kalora Park, and Quirk was full of praise for the abundance of kids getting senior experience and flourishing in the big games.

“(Matt Shinners) loves playing the kids, which has been massive us – if you’ve got a 25-year old that does something it doesn’t have the same impact as an 18-year old, and it gets you up,” he said.

“In a competition with plenty of blowouts, it can be hard week to week, and I reckon watching these boys play is really exciting, it certainly makes me excited playing with them.”

These next four weeks are crucial ahead of finals, according to Quirk, and pointed to the importance of being physically ready for what lies ahead.

“We’ve just come out of a six-week loading block, of a lot of running at training, so I’m tipping the next four weeks leading up to finals will be a bit lighter on the legs,” he said.

“Our program is run by Alex Sakadjian, who is the head of rehab at the Melbourne Football Club – he’s a Narre boy, played in the twos, should have played more in the ones, but with his commitment to his work, made it hard.

“He knows what he’s doing, so he runs the program from the outside – in terms of peaking at the right time of the year, we certainly have the right man to be doing that too.”

The pain of last year’s grand final loss to Berwick does still hurt and has been on the back of all the players’ minds, and Quirk said they are better placed to go one better and etch their name into history.

“Last year we were there and abouts, and we were playing really good footy, but I thought Berwick were head and shoulders above, and that it was going to take something extraordinary to beat them,” he said.

“But early wins against them this year have certainly instilled some belief – I personally still believe they’re the best side in it, but knowing now that if we play well enough, we can match them, and beat them, it gives us some confidence.

“But anyone inside the top five can win it.”

And the skipper has been forced to change his role somewhat this season, but is still having a major impact with his toughness and skill around the contest.

“It’s been to do with my body more than anything – I’ve had a back issue for probably 12 months now I guess, it’s a genetic thing,” he said.

“It’s a forward tilting pelvis, it sounds worse than it is – I’ve sort of had to learn a new running technique, so it’s been different.

“It’s been about getting that right, and trying to get back to my best footy, really.”

Quirk’s Magpies will host Beaconsfield at Kalora Park on Saturday, looking to all but lock away top spot for good.