Liam Durkin
THIS reunion was only four seconds away from not happening.
Four centimetres even.
Had the ball trickled over the boundary line at Bairnsdale City Oval on Saturday, September 20, 2014, the East Gippsland premiership cup wouldn’t have been making its way back to Stratford.
The course of history however pivoted in just 15 or so dramatic seconds.
With the Swans three points down, the ball found its way into the arms of Josh Kiss.
His shot on goal in the forward pocket near the bar slash hut at Bairnsdale regained the lead.
Looking up at the timekeepers box, the Stratford bench asked how long was left.
‘Four’ came the reply.
Initially thinking there was still four minutes to go, the Swans were jumping for joy just four seconds later.
The premiership was theirs. ‘Sealed with a kiss’.
Stratford 12.11 (83) defeated Wy Yung 12.8 (80).
Stratford Football-Netball Club players gathered last Saturday night to recount that glorious day in the club’s history.
The Swans swept the floor on Grand Final day 2014, winning not only the senior football flag, but also reserves football and all four senior netball titles from A Grade to D Grade.
Premiership cups from those teams proudly lined the table in the Stratford social rooms, amid a backdrop of the premiership pennants.
On the big screen, replays of the seniors and reserves Grand Final had onlooker’s glued to the screen, while people also delighted in trawling through old newspaper clippings, including the Gippsland Times.
For the senior Swans, the 2014 triumph was every bit a cathartic moment.
Stratford had moved to East Gippsland in 2012 following years of struggle in the neighbouring North Gippsland Football-Netball League.
The Swans won just three games in 2010 and 2011 before deciding something had to give.
While the situation may have appeared bleak, Stratford coach Peter Morrison was holding onto one saving grace.
When Morrison was appointed, Stratford Thirds had just won their second NGFNL flag, and would go on to complete a hat-trick during Morrison’s first year with the club in 2010.
With that, Morrison saw a future.
“The nucleus of young blokes stayed from the three under 18 premierships, that was the basis, if that didn’t happen I wouldn’t be coach,” Morrison told the Bairnsdale Advertiser in the lead-up to the 2014 Grand Final.
Taking incremental steps, the Swans won six games in their first season in the EGFNL.
They almost doubled that in 2013, winning 11 to finish third on the home-and-away ladder.
Stratford destroyed Lindenow in that year’s semi-final, winning by 80 points, and put up a good fight against Lucknow in the preliminary, falling just 16 points short.
Speaking to the assembly gathered last Saturday, Morrison was still adamant Stratford could have won the premiership that season.
However, the shortfall was to provide even more motivation for 2014.
The Swans added a few players over the preseason, namely Jesse Broadbent, Joel Brayshaw, Rodney O’Keefe and Lachie Heywood out of the under 18s
Come the start of the season, there was no stopping Stratford.
The Swans wiped a number of teams off the park in the first seven rounds, beating Lucknow (who played in the Grand Final the previous year) by 134 points, and Orbost Snowy Rovers by 113.
Stratford finished four games clear on top, dropping just one game and ending with a percentage of more than 200.
As if their form wasn’t hot enough, they creamed reigning premier Paynesville by 74 points in the last round.
Paynesville made finals too by the way.
Stratford was not without its challenges though, with eventual premiership players O’Keefe, Luke Clohesy and Jordan Robertson all struggling for form at various stages and finding their way out of the side.
For Robertson, his comeback was to prove extremely poignant.
Another setback came Stratford’s way in Round 16.
An injury to Josh Kiss meant the Swans had to rearrange their forward line.
Even with that however, Stratford still beat Lindenow by 10 goals.
Morrison described that performance as “the turning point”.
“As far as I’m concerned, this was the day that I think you boys realised that I was dead serious about what we were trying to do,” he told the reunion.
“We had a group of people who were on a mission.
“I was totally sold that we would win it.”
The Swans marched into the Grand Final after beating Lindenow by 45 points in the semi-final.
The Swans entered the decider fresh, and with nearly a full list to choose from, all appeared to be laid out for them to win their first premiership in 11 years.
Grand Final day had already yielded a reserves premiership by the time the seniors took the field, and when Stratford led the senior decider by 25 points at three quarter time, it seemed the corkscrew on the champagne bottle could just about be popped.
With a huge gold premiership cup on offer, reportedly the biggest even seen in East Gippsland football, there was even more incentive for the Swans to complete their task.
What was to follow however nearly turned into Stratford’s worst nightmare.
“They came, really hard,” Morrison said.
To shock and disbelief, Wy Yung kicked 4.5 (29), seemingly in a hurry.
The flurry of goals saw Stratford surrender the lead, and even led to some Swans supporters retreating from the oval, unable to watch.
“The ball goes back to the middle, I fully expected them to flood back,” Morrison recalled after Wy Yung hit the front.
What followed however literally came down to inches.
“Jarryd (Stratford captain Jarryd Clohesy) grabbed it, kicked it, it went up, it was rolling toward the boundary line – and this is in my mind – stuck.
“Jordon Robertson… all the Wy Yung bloke had to do was push him over the line. Jordon rolled around and hit Josh Kiss lace out.”
Kiss, who’d only had a handful of touches for the day, went back and nailed the winning goal.
It might not have been his match, but it was well and truly his moment.
The final siren sounded literally as soon as the ball came down from the centre bounce.
Clohesy was among the best players for the premiers, along with Corey Scholtes, Mitchell Walker, Tim Hawkins, Lachlan Channing and Broadbent.
For Morrison, who made his way from Sale and played nearly 100 games for South Melbourne, this was his first ever premiership.
He had to wait longer than most, eventually getting there at age 58.
“One thing that probably makes me the proudest to be here (at the reunion), is we started down here (gesturing to the floor), and we got to this day, and it was probably the most excited day that I’ve ever had,” he said.
The win made it Stratford’s first senior flag since 2003, when they won in the now defunct Riviera League.
The Swans have enjoyed premiership success twice more since 2014, with Morrison leading the Swans to the flag in 2018, before Jarryd Clohesy did likewise in 2022.
Completing something of a full circle, Stratford’s senior coach is now Gavin O’Shanassy.
O’Shanassy coached the Swans to the reserves premiership in 2014.
As good as 2014 was for Stratford, there is the potential for this year to deliver something even bigger.
Just imagine a Stratty v Boisdale-Briagolong granny.
Stratford players watch the Grand Final replay at last Saturday’s reunion. Photos: Liam Durkin unless stated
Premiership cups won by Stratford Football-Netball Club in 2014. The Swans won senior football, reserves football and all senior netball flags.
Stratford premiership coach Peter Morrison addressing the assembly last Saturday night.
