Withers for Ky

by PAUL DAFFEY

LAST week it was reported that Kyabram had recruited Balraj "Kerching" Singh and Lincoln Withers for a princely sum, although not quite as princely as the pair received last year at Balranald. In recent days, Kyabram has signed up another player from Balranald's 2007 line-up, Chris Atkins, a midfielder who is unlikely to be receiving a pauper's wage either.

Atkins won two best-and-fairest awards at Kyabram before spending recent seasons alongside Singh and Withers at Balranald in winter and at Waratahs during the Top End season. In the Top End season that finished a fortnight ago, Withers played his 100th game for Waratahs in the preliminary final, only to blemish the milestone by being reported.

The main charge resulted from front-on contact to the head of a Southern Districts opponent during the match's opening seconds. He was also reported for kicking but the charge was later amended to unduly rough play. He was suspended for a total of three matches.

The 34-year-old missed the grand final, which Waratahs lost to St Mary's by 96 points. His suspension now carries over into the Goulburn Valley league season, where Withers will miss Kyabram's opening two games.

The rugged midfielder yesterday described the NTFL tribunal's decision to suspend him as "bullcrap". He was unsure whether he would return to Victoria for the southern football season or stay in Darwin, where he lives with his pregnant girlfriend, and fly down every weekend.

His season last year also started amid controversy when he played the first two games for his home club, Garfield in West Gippsland, to give him 200 games and enable him to qualify for life membership. Then, after receiving a call from Singh, he followed the yellow brick road to Balranald.

Some footy fans in the West Gippsland region believe Withers is the best country footballer they've seen; many wonder whether he should have given it more of a shot at Carlton, where he played reserves in the early 1990s.

The main interest now is whether Withers and his fellow well-paid wanderers will gel at Kyabram under the coaching of David Williams. After finishing his AFL career with Melbourne, Williams coached his hometown club Rochester for 16 years, never once in that time leaving anyone in any doubt about where he stood.

His raves were coloured by his theory that Rochester, a club from the smallest town in the competition, was "us" and everyone else was "them". Rochester played in seven grand finals in a decade, winning two. During that time Williams abjured payment because he wanted the money to go to potential recruits.

With the entry into the Rochester team in recent years of generation-Y players, Williams came to be seen as old school. Still, it sent a shock through the region when he parted ways with the club after last season.

At Kyabram, a rival of Rochester, Williams has joined a club that is less than united over its decision to bring in highly paid recruits. Perhaps it's just as well the coach has a way of getting his point across.

This article first appeared in The Age on Wednesday 26 March 2008.

27 March 2008

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