By Russell Bennett
In some ways, Inverloch Kongwak was the real hard luck story of the 2018 West Gippsland Football Netball Competition senior season.
But just don’t go telling new coach Tom McQualter that. He’ll have none of it.
McQualter took on the role as the WGFNC’s senior interleague coach in its inaugural season in 2017, with Ben Soumilas right there alongside him as one of his lead assistants.
Now, moving into the 2019 season, McQualter is taking over from Soumilas at the Sea Eagles.
‘Souma’, as he’s affectionately known, is one of the most revered footy figures anywhere in Gippsland. Anyone who’s dealt with him over his time in the sport could see why.
After leading the Sea Eagles to a drought-breaking flag over Cora Lynn in 2017, his last game at the helm came after a loss to an inspired young Cobras outfit in the elimination final at Inverloch last year.
Heading into the last round of the home and away season, the Sea Eagles were on top of the ladder. A week later, they finished fourth – mere percentage points behind Phillip Island, Nar Nar Goon, and Kooweerup in remarkable scenes.
It meant there’d be no double chance for them, and somewhat cruelly Soumilas’ side bowed out at home in week one of the finals.
“We spoke about this a little bit over the summer,” a particularly candid McQualter said before a pre-season training session at Inverloch recently.
“If you weren’t going to win it, that wasn’t the worst way to bow out. If you were going to come second, you could probably come up with some stories like ‘gee, we had some injuries’, or ‘Phillip Island came good at the end and got on a run’, and you go into the summer thinking you’re right there.
“But we’ve got a dirty taste in the mouth – that taste of defeat – and we know how it feels. We’ve gone from winning the premiership and knowing how that feels to coming back to the rest of the field, and we don’t want to experience it again.”
McQualter has an extensive playing background at Traralgon in the Gippsland League, at Yinnar, and most recently at Inverloch-Kongwak in 2016 before a persistent knee injury put an end to his on-field days.
The born and bred Traralgon boy took up virtually every position at his home club at one point or another – including president (briefly), player, board member, assistant coach (winning a premiership as the bench coach), and leadership group member.
In fact, up until recently his day job was as director of ‘The Leadership Conservatory’ – essentially leading, or coaching, leaders.
His involvement with the Sea Eagles began when he and his wife Kate not only moved to Inverloch, but quite literally across the road from their home ground.
“We didn’t know anyone – really at all – which is rare for Gippsland,” he explained.
“I started playing cricket and footy again to make some friends, basically, and meet new people.”
The Sea Eagles lost that 2016 Alberton league grand final to Fish Creek, before going one better against Cora Lynn the year later.
“Losing that grand final to Fish Creek – another fantastic footy club – by 10 points and being around the place, I got to see the inner workings of Inverloch and I got to get to know Souma and a whole bunch of people,” McQualter said.
“I’d met Souma before that, but only from coming up against them. He was at Drouin and Garfield when I was at Traralgon.
“I had massive respect for him, which only grew again when I came here.
“The interleague role in 2017 was a great opportunity and I was very grateful to AFL Gippsland for that, but last winter I sat on the couch, and I was lonely, bored and sad (laughs).
“When it comes to this role – if I wrote a list with a whole bunch of boxes that needed ticking, most of them would get ticked here. We’re competitive, it’s a really strong club with a fantastic culture, there are strong numbers on the committee, the financial position is strong, (and) we’re big into the town and embracing the community. I was really excited about all of those things.
“Some would say I’ve got big shoes to fill – following in Souma’s footsteps – but I reckon it’s great. I’m coming into a situation where everything is already in such fantastic nick. All I have to do is not stuff it up! (laughs)
“We have a new minimum standard for what is ok. For every coach that walks in these doors for the next 20 years, this is the new baseline for what is acceptable as a group and as a footy club – because of what Souma and the club have set up in the past few years. I think that’s so exciting.”
Looking ahead to the new season – which will include new clubs Tooradin-Dalmore (the now defunct SEFNL) and Warragul Industrials (EDFL) – McQualter and his group can’t wait for the challenges that await them in what’s again bound to be one of the most fiercely contested competitions in the south east.
“There’s definitely the realisation that we have serious work to do,” he said.
“This is a really fierce competition – you can’t miss by 10 per cent and still expect to win.
“The most dangerous games in this competition are those where you just take your foot off the pedal and think you have enough in the tank to get the job done. We won’t be doing that. At all.
“They’re all going to be hard work, and that’s great for the competition. You bring some former AFL and VFL players back, and that just adds to it.”
Perhaps ominously for the rest of the competition, the Sea Eagles have lost no one from their nucleus of the past couple of seasons – with the likes of Andy Soumilas (the first ever WGFNC league best and fairest winner), Shem Hawking, and a fit Josh Purcell and Dylan Clark all returning.
But they’ve hardly sat on the hands on the recruiting front. New to the group in 2019 will be Sam Gibbins, a tall, accomplished full forward from Beaumaris; speedy wingman Callum Beattie-Powell, also from Beaumaris; big-bodied midfielder Tristan Van Driel out of Collegians in the VAFA; Callum Cusack from Heatherton in the SFL; and Cam Roughead, the younger brother of AFL champion Jarryd, out of Leongatha.
Joining them will be former Sea Eagles Rowan Clark (brother of Dylan) and Eric MacPhie, while VFL player and ex-Gippsland Power star Aloysio Ferreira has nominated Inverloch Kongwak as his home club when he’s not playing for Frankston.
McQualter was particularly bullish about the Sea Eagles’ improved depth moving forward, while highlighting that their recruiting strategy was based around the notion of bringing in players who could play 100-plus games at the club.
Those who watch McQualter’s side in the opening rounds of the new season will notice a very similar game style to the one which netted the ultimate success under Soumilas.
But there’ll be a couple of key differences, too – ‘key’, being the operative word.
“We’ll have more size (across the ground), and more height in key positions,” McQualter said.
“It was probably a gap we had, but we’ve got younger in terms of our collective age group too.
“At this stage, touch wood, we won’t have anyone with a delayed start to the season on the injury front either so we’re starting from a good position.
“We’ll be playing as fast as we can. If you look at the AFL trends in recent seasons in particular when it comes to the Western Bulldogs and Richmond and so forth – they’re faster. We’ll be working to be faster and smarter – exactly like every other team. We’ll be trying to stop opposition sides from being fast against us, and again that’s what everyone will be trying to do.
“I’m most excited about seeing how we, as a group, can integrate our new players into our culture, to what we’re about, and how that can benefit us.
“And I’m really excited about the opportunity we have to play in a fierce competition, and the chance to stand up and see where we fit into that in 2019.
“As a club, not just as a senior group, but as a whole football netball club – where do we fit? In some ways, we want to be right at the forefront of it. What are the best clubs doing? We want to be in that conversation. If people are talking about the West Gippy comp being such a fiercely contested one, well we want the next bit of that conversation to be ‘…because of clubs like Inverloch’.”
McQualter’s brother Andrew played 94 AFL games for St Kilda and the Gold Coast – including three grand finals with the Saints – before taking on a coaching role at Richmond.
