Smile says it all

By Brad Kingsbury
IT wasn’t was it?
Yes it was – a smile actually broke on the face of Pakenham coach Michael ‘Jock’ Holland after teenage Lion Chris Smith ran onto the ball and slotted a goal to give his side a 61-point lead at the 18-minute mark of the third quarter in Saturday’s grand final.
Holland’s mirth was short-lived however and the expression of utter concern, so familiar to every football coach, returned a minute later as Doveton veteran Daniel Charles was awarded a free kick in front of goal.
Such is the ride that coaches take on a weekly basis and Holland knows only too well that the game can change completely in a matter of minutes.
That’s if you let it and, on Saturday, he didn’t.
At the end of the day, and the 2009 season, the smile was back and this time it was permanent as the former star midfielder reflected on his first premiership as a non-playing coach.
“It’s probably a bit more rewarding really,” he said.
“You put so much work into it and plan so hard. It’s been easier for me this year not playing because you don’t have to worry about your own game and it means you can concentrate on the things that the side needs to do.
“To see the satisfaction on these boys faces, that’s what makes me most pleased.”
The bitter disappointment of losing the 2007 grand final to Narre Warren just made Holland hungrier, but he said the premiership planning went back much further than that.
“It’s been a five-year journey and there’s been some real battles along the way,” he said.
“We had chances in that time to win one, but maybe we just weren’t ready to do it. Last year we had to learn the hard lesson again and this year we were ready.”
The hardest part of the grand final was telling talented young midfielder John Atwell he was not in the side, but Holland does not back away from his obligations as coach.
“It was the hardest part of it for sure,” he said.
“I spoke to him on Thursday night and I think he probably knew deep down that we had a pretty settled side.
“It’s a hard-luck story, but he’s a star and he’ll bounce back. You can only fit 22 players into the team and in the end we went with what we had.”