THEY'VE been called also-rans, easy beats and whipping boys. You name it the Grafton Tigers have been ridiculed from pillar to post in recent years.
But not any more.
Gone are the days they sat with bodies and egos bruised after opposing teams racked up cricket scores against them
Gone are the days they languished rock-bottom on the North Coast AFL ladder.
And gone are the days they strode onto the field expecting defeat even before the bounce of the ball.
Those days are just a distant memory for Tigers' centre half-forward Daniel Zacek who has experienced the lows and highs of local AFL.
“There have certainly been some hard times,” Zacek said.
“We finished pretty much the bottom of the table the last few years.
“It's been really tough knowing you've got blokes within your ranks that are probably capable of taking that next step, but we were always short those one or two quality players.”
Zacek, who was named in the North Coast AFL Team of the Decade, admits losing week in week out was difficult, particularly during those cold winter nights.
“It was horrible. You'd rock up to training on a Tuesday night and no-one felt like being there,” he said.
“Come June and July it's cold, dark and raining and the reality is you're going to go out on the weekend and get another flogging.
“Against teams like Sawtell/Toormina we were beaten by about 30 goals.”
When asked about his side's amazing turnaround this season the 31-year-old Tigers captain puts it down to self belief, players maturing and a coach who is prepared to put in the hard yards.
“I suppose the core group of players we had the last four years have all come back together at the one time,” Zacek said.
“When I arrived here four years ago they (players) were all 19 or 20. Now they are a bit more settled within themselves…they are at a good spot at the moment.
“They are also willing to make sacrifices. And obviously the team has benefited from Adie (Adrian Campbell) coming along as coach.
“He has plenty of experience and manages everyone very well. He gets the best out of each player and has very good people skills.”
According to Zacek, preparation has also been an important ingredient to the Tigers success in 2011.
“It's obviously about Saturday, but it's also about what we do during the week and making sure everyone is in a good frame of mind,” he said.
“To be honest I can see a marked difference before the game. The way we prepare and the commitment level.
“To tell you the truth, it's a great feeling winning, but by the same token we're not getting carried away.
“We know where we have been the last couple of years and realise we need to make the most of this opportunity.”
The Tigers were undefeated until Saturday's loss to the Coffs Harbour Swans and according to the fanatical Carlton supporter teams are finally sitting up and taking notice.
“We beat some of the heavy weights in the competition in the early rounds,” he said.
“Maybe they thought it was a bit of a fluke but when you go out and beat teams like North Coffs the way we did I think everyone knows we are the real deal.”
Article and picture from the Daily Examiner, Wednesday June 8, 2011, written by Gary Nichols.
Last Modified on 08/06/2011 08:13