Our decade in review series continues with a look back on a rebounding period for Ararat.
MATT CURRILL revisits a rollercoaster 10 years that saw the Rats move out from the middle of the table to challenge the Wimmera Football League's perennial powerhouses.
The Alexandra Oval changing rooms were packed to the rafters, as players and supporters alike took in the ecstasy of finally getting one up over the traditional powerhouse.
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Ararat's round eight victory last season was the first time the club had beaten Horsham in the 2010s.
As if once wasn't enough, the Rats did it again two months later, on Horsham's own turf.
"It was a combination of two things. They'd come off a run of unprecedented success,. Let's face it they'd been sensational for a long period of time. They dropped off a fair bit last year, but we also improved too," Ararat Football Netball Club president David Hosking said.
"It meant we finally got them, which was nice."
Improvement has been the hallmark of Ararat's decade.
The Rats started the 2010s on the edge of finals contention, before slipping into a congested middle of the table.
A lean run of form would be interrupted by the odd finals appearance, but the Rats failed to string enough wins together - finishing the decade with a winning percentage of 42.35% - to keep pace with the league's top sides.
"I'd say we've had better 10-year periods. Starting off, I think it's fair to say we weren't in a particularly great place, but I think we've gradually got better and better as the decade has gone on," Hosking said.
The Rats' consecutive preliminary final showings in 2018 and 2019 under Shane Fisher were the club's best finishes of the past decade.
Behind the Rats' rise has been the gradual development of juniors and retention of top-line talent.
"When I took over as coach in 2013, what was clearly a priority for us, and it was a reason why we have improved, was that we set about retaining a lot of those junior players," Hosking said.
"We put those measures in place and it's showed. They've stuck around and become really good players for the club.
"You get continuity (with juniors), they come up through a system, they play with one another and get familiar, which means they make a good team.
"I think there's a bigger care factor too. They come up through the club, and it's their club. They care about it."
One of those players has headlined Ararat's decade like no other.
Jack Ganley kicked more goals and picked up more best player votes (six for being named best, five for second best etc) than anyone.
"It's not a bad effort when you consider he's probably spent most of that time playing as a midfielder, not as a forward," Hosking said.
Ganley's dominance was recognised with three successive club best and fairest wins from 2015 to 2017.
"It had never been done before in club history. I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that he's probably Ararat's best player of the past 10 years," Hosking said.
Though Ganley may come out on top by numbers alone, Hosking pointed to the feats of a loyal contingent of players.
"When I took over as coach, we were in a pretty bad place, and it's fair to say Alan (Batchelor) and Jake Williamson were both very very good players," he said.
Batchelor - a 2008 Toohey medallist - captained the side from 2009 to 2016, played more games than any Ararat player in the 2010s and claimed the second most best player votes.
In a dominant decade, Williamson won a club best and fairest and finished among the Rats' top 10 goalkickers and best vote-getters.
"Alan and Jake were the ones. We obviously had other really good players, but they were the blokes you could build a team around. They were two proven winners," Hosking said.
"There are two other blokes that were pretty good, and the only reason they didn't play more was because they both moved away.
"Daniel Mendes won a Toohey Medal, so he's obviously a very good player, and Beau Cosson as well."
Mendes, a multiple club best and fairest winner and interleague representative, returned to the Eastern Football Netball League in the off-season, alongside brothers Nick and Callum,
Cosson spent two years with the Rats in 2014 and 2015 and now plays for Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League club Dromona.
While the coronavirus outbreak may have put the 2020 season on ice, it's strangely heralded a significant boost to the Rats' playing list.
"Tom Mills made the Carlton VFL list, but now that (club) has been closed down. So if we do get a start this year Tom will play with us," Hosking said.
Mills played for the Northern Blues in pre-season before Carlton cut its alignment with the VFL outfit as part of cost-cutting measures, forcing the club to dissolve.
"Jack and Harry Ganley were both going overseas this year too, but obviously they can't go now," Hosking said.
"If we get a start to the footy season this year, we effectively get three players back that we didn't think we were going to have.
"We're not talking about average players either; they're three top liners."
YEAR-BY-YEAR:
2010
Finished - 5th (8-8)
lost elimination final to Warrack Eagles
Most best player votes:
Toby Reid and Lachlan Molloy - 41
Leading goalkicker:
Mick Fratin - 39
............................................
2011
Finished - 7th (6-10)
Most best player votes:
Alan Batchelor - 45
Leading goalkicker:
Aaron McKinnis - 30
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2012
Finished - 7th (5-11)
Most best player votes:
Bradley Harricks - 32
Leading goalkicker:
Zach Louder - 17
............................................
2013
Finished - 7th (4-12)
Most best player votes:
Nicholas Maddison - 46
Leading goalkicker:
James Laidlaw - 24
2014
Finished - 5th (8-8)
lost elimination semi-final to Warrack Eagles
Most best player votes:
Daniel Mendes - 52
Leading goalkicker:
Beau Cosson - 50
............................................
2015
Finished - 4th (8-8)
lost elimination final to Stawell
Most best player votes:
Alan Batchelor - 36
Leading goalkicker:
Gordon Laurie - 46
............................................
2016
Finished - 6th (5-11)
Most best player votes:
Jake Robinson - 45
Leading goalkicker:
Lachlan Hamilton - 42
2017
Finished - 6th (3-12)
Most best player votes:
Jack Ganley - 46
Leading goalkicker:
Tom Mills - 34
............................................
2018
Finished - 3rd (11-5)
lost preliminary final to Southern Mallee Giants
Most best player votes:
Daniel Mendes - 66
Leading goalkicker:
Lachlan Hamilton - 59
............................................
2019
Finished -2nd (11-5)
lost preliminary final to Southern Mallee Giants
Most best player votes:
Daniel Mendes - 68
Leading goalkicker:
Tom Mills - 31
BEST PLAYER VOTES:
1 - Jack Ganley
Votes: 285
Times in best: 67
% of games in best: 59.3%
Top 3: 46 No.1: 17
............................................
2 - Alan Batchelor
Votes: 237
Times in best: 66
% of games in best: 55%
Top 3: 33 No.1: 15
............................................
3 - Daniel Mendes
Votes: 224
Times in best: 55
% of games in best: 73.3
Top 3: 35 No.1: 18
4 - Jake Williamson
Votes: 179
Times in best: 50
% of games in best: 44.24
Top 3: 24 No.1: 8
............................................
5 - Jake Robinson
Votes: 143
Times in best: 42
% of games in best: 56%
Top 3: 18 No.1: 5
............................................
6 - Ryan Bates
Votes: 127
Times in best: 33
% of games in best: 30.84%
Top 3: 21 No.1: 7
............................................
7 - Tom Mills
Votes: 116
Times in best: 30
% of games in best: 43.47%
Top 3: 21 No.1: 4
8 - Nicholas Mendes
Votes: 115
Times in best: 28
% of games in best: 53.84%
Top 3: 18 No.1:7
............................................
9 - Harry Ganley
Votes: 109
Times in best: 34
% of games in best: 37.36%
Top 3: 14 No.1: 5
............................................
10 - Brady Miller
Votes: 91
Times in best: 23
% of games in best: 30.26%
Top 3: 13 No.1: 8
TOP 10 GOALKICKERS:
1 - Jack Ganley
Goals: 177
High: 6 Games: 113
Average per game: 1.56
5+: 4
............................................
2 - Lachlan Hamilton
Goals: 126
High: 7 Games: 51
Average per game: 2.47
5+: 7
3 - Tom Mills
Goals: 99
High: 5 Games: 69
Average per game: 1.43
5+: 3
4 - Gordon Laurie
Goals: 89
High: 7 Games: 44
Average per game: 2.02
5+: 3
............................................
5 - Beau Cosson
Goals: 83
High: 7 Games: 3
Average per game: 2.59
5+: 3
............................................
6 - Aaron McKinnis
Goals: 80
High: 7 Games: 41
Average per game: 1.95
5+: 1
............................................
7 - Mick Fratin
Goals: 78
High: 7 Games: 3
Average per game: 1.56
5+: 3
8 - Daniel Mendes
Goals: 76
High: 6 Games: 75
Average per game: 1.01
5+: 1
............................................
9 - Aaron Searle
Goals: 70
High: 6 Games: 50
Average per game: 1.4
5+: 2
............................................
10 - Jake Williamson
Goals: 61
High: 5 Games: 113
Average per game: 0.53
5+: 3
TOP 5 APPEARANCES:
1 - Alan Batchelor
Games: 120
............................................
2 - Jack Ganley
Games: 113
............................................
3 - Jake Williamson
Goals: 113
............................................
4 - Ryan Bates
Games: 107
............................................
5 - Jacob Bates
Games: 102
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
v Dimboola
Record - (11-10)
............................................
v Horsham
Record - (2-20)
............................................
v Horsham Saints
Record - (5-17)
............................................
v Horsham United
Record - (7-1)
............................................
v Minyip-Murtoa
Record - (7-16)
............................................
v Nhill
Record - (17-4)
............................................
v Southern Mallee Giants
Record - (1-6)
............................................
v Stawell
Record - (14-9)
............................................
v Warrack Eagles
Record - (7-1-15)
DECADE RECORD:
Played - 170
Won - 72
Lost - 96
Drawn - 1
Winning % - 42.35%
Average for/agst -1301/1494
Seasons in finals - 5
Finals record - (3-7)
Premierships - 0
League best and fairest winners: 1 (Daniel Mendes - 2018)
RESERVES
Played - 165
Won - 67
Lost - 98
Winning % - 40.6%
Average for/agst -843/1151
Seasons in finals - 3
Finals record - (3-3)
Premierships - 1 (2019)
UNDER-17'S
Played - 182
Won - 156
Lost - 25
Drawn - 1
Winning % - 85.71%
Average for/agst -1606/563
Seasons in finals - 10
Finals record - (18-6)
Premierships - 6 (2010-12, 2015, 2017-18)
League best and fairest winners: 3 (Alexander Laidlaw - 2012, 2013, Jack Antonio - 2016, Cori Corrigan - 2017)
AFL Draftees
Lauchlan Dalgleish - Essendon (pick 11 2012 rookie draft)
Tom Williamson - Carlton (61st pick 2016 national draft)