Mustangs co-coach Anthony Cowan reflects on the 2021 Group 3 season

There were match-winners on the siren, plenty of debutants, washouts and the occasional sin-bin. Along with the dreaded COVID-19 cancellation.

Before the 2021 season kicked off Mustangs co-coaches Ant Cowan and Steve 'Rock' Walker were focused on bringing through the next generation.

"We're just rebuilding at the end of the day, we're not here to try and win the comp, we just want to be competitive every week and come next year and the year after we can build and win another premiership in the next five years," Cowan said in pre-season.

With plenty of courageous performances and inspirational wins, the season exceeded the expectations of the co-coach.

The club were fighting it out for fourth and fifth before COVID struck, ending the finals hopes of all teams.

"It's hard to put into words, it's disappointing how we ended the season," Cowan said.

"We sat ourselves in a good position to play finals, which wasn't one of our goals but something that, if it was there, we'd take with both hands.

"The number one thing was about re-building the club and giving these young fellas a crack at first grade and ensuring they know what it takes to play firsts because it's a whole different ball game coming from under 18s.

"They did a really good job and I'm proud of them."

To pick out a match of the year for the Mustangs is difficult.

Some of their most courageous performances came in losses, with Cowan unable to pinpoint a single game - instead focusing on four - an 18-16 loss to Breakers, 38-34 loss to Wauchope along with their 24-20 and 28-23 wins against Wingham.

Against Port City Breakers on May 16, the Mustangs were down to 11-men just before half-time with a send-off and sin-bin, the boys were down 18-10 at the break.

Ethan Thompson scored midway through the second-half to make matters interesting but the lack of one player meant the home team couldn't land the final blow.

The final score read 18-16 and despite losing the game, the first grade boys showed they're a side full of resilience and grit.

"We defended our line with 12 for the majority of the game," Cowan recounted.

The Wauchope match saw Macleay play against an undefeated side who looked to be premiership favourites.

In a tit-for-tat fixture, the Mustangs showed that when you score we can score but the brilliance of Wauchope centre Sam Watts proved too hard to overcome.

The Wingham games were both come from behind victories.

In the mud at Laurieton, Macleay came back from 16-0 down to defeat the Tigers with Miles Mongta scoring the match-winner two weekends in a row.

Their second game against Wingham at Wingham was a catch up fixture with Mal Webster putting Selwyn Smith through a hole to win with less than a minute remaining - coming back from a 10-0 deficit at half-time.

"There's a few games there that we can pick as the best but all-round every single game I played with these young boys blew my mind," Cowan said.

"It goes to show they've got talent and heart."

With the number of debutants well into double digits, the Mustangs had plenty of players getting their first taste of senior football.

"I can't pick one standout bloke, it's all across the board, no matter what number they put on their back or coming from 18s or the older blokes like myself, Rocko and Jeremy Taylor, they just did the job and just love playing footy," he said.

"That's the main thing, they love playing footy and I do as well, they love to compete and I'm sure there's a grand final around the corner.

"If these boys stick solid then in the next few years there'll be a premiership coming home."

Cowan did manage to pinpoint one of his wingers who he thought improved significantly throughout the season.

"A player that's come along way this year is Jason Russell, he did a lot of dirty work for us coming out of our own end and he improved so much this year and turned into a real good footballer, he'll have a good future ahead," he explained.

"Also Miles (Mongta), who's a freak, hard-hitters like Ethan Thompson, Selwyn Smith, Ivan Madden and Dre Barker, the list goes on.. all those boys I wouldn't want to play against any of them, it's so fun to play with them and be with them for their first year of football."

Interestingly, with a major premier not awarded this year and last, the Mustangs will stay as the reigning premiers after their 2019 victory.

From the current first grade squad, Jeremy Taylor, Dre and Isaiah Barker are the only players remaining from that 2019 win.

Cowan was thankful for the leadership those players provided with the Barker brothers a rock in the middle.

"The club's going in the right direction and hopefully they all stay together and we can give it a really good shake next year," Cowan said.

"I couldn't have done without Rocko and everyone that's been there - not just first, reserve grade and 18s but the whole club - we all helped out wherever we could and that's why we were so successful, it was a really good year to be apart of the club.

"The good thing about it, you can say myself, Rocko and Jeremy were the leaders of the team but I can rely on others like Dre, Isaiah, Selwyn and Ethan.

"They're just leaders, everyone stood up, they took leadership of not just the team but the whole club, that starts from Tuesday and Thursday nights at training."

For Cowan and Walker, 2021 marked their first venture into coaching with both providing invaluable guidance and direction on and off the field.

"I'd love to stay and coach again, I will play a few games where I can but most importantly I'll sit back and enjoy it on the sidelines and watch these younger fellas come through," Cowan said.

"We've had some really good compliments from players in the group saying these boys can hit, they're footballers and have a big future ahead of them.

"What I learnt (from coaching) was about being more of a leader.

"I've been around the game for a while now, played in rep sides, played with different clubs, won premierships, but the most important thing is I'm a competitor, I don't like losing and that's what I want to bring down to my boys.

"When you go out there and compete for everything, in attack and defence, no matter if you're in front or behind by 30 or 40, you play till the 80^th minute and never give up.

"I just want the boys to be passionate about the jumper they wear, the young boys are inspirational to play with, they drive me to play every week because I know I can get 80 minutes out of them.

"I've got a soft spot for the club and it's a great start to my coaching career to begin at a club that's close to my heart."

As for Sunday's fixture between Souths and Penrith, Cowan believes Cody Walker will be the main difference.

"I back Souths, the way Penrith played last week and the week before that I don't know if they can get any better yet," he said.

"Souths are on fire, I reckon Souths 13+ with Cody Walker winning Clive Churchill but you just don't know with these young Panthers, they're guns, but if Cody is firing along with Damien Cook and their spine then they're unstoppable.

"He (Walker) just ripped them (Manly) to shreds last week, if he plays like that they'll be hard to beat."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: