SFNL 2025: Inside East Brighton's surprising switch

Herald Sun

19-06-2025

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Responsibility is firmly in the hands of the players at East Brighton.
It always was on the field – but now it is off it too.
The Vampires snapped a three-match losing streak in Division 1 of the Southern league when they downed Murrumbeena by 38 points in round 9, and coach Nick Jewell has revealed the result came off the back of a significant switch.
'We certainly changed it up … we threw it over to the players and the leaders, they pretty much ran training both nights and we let the captains pick the side in terms of positions and balances in the team,' said Jewell, who is in his final season at the helm of East Brighton.
'Just for a circuit breaker, and a sign to the future.
'It gave us a freshen up and a different look, we made a couple of changes, and shuffled a few positions around, it worked well and seemed to give us energy and a bit of spark.'
The leadership group of skipper Kai Love-Linay, ex-AFL man Alex Keath, as well as Sean Downie and Blake Cochrane were at the fore of the decision-making.
'It was time for a different look at it and I thought as coach to hand over and let them take ownership of the side, it worked really well,' Jewell added.
'It really felt like a line in the sand moment after losing three in a row. We needed to get more fun and enjoyment back into it, and the players led that really well from Tuesday night through to the end of the game.
'I think it's important that the senior players take the next step in leadership and are involved, whether it be on-field coaching … get their head around the balance of the sides and points available, I think it's really healthy for them to experience those decisions.'
With Nicholas Corp unavailable and Ben Reid still recovering from a hamstring injury, the Vampires line-up against Murrumbeena had a different – and shorter – make-up.
'To kick 32 scoring shots was really pleasing with a different looking forward line to what we've had all year,' Jewell said
'(We had a) bit more flexibility and unpredictability than dropping it on a big head every time, that gave us a different look.
'It gave others more responsibility to be at the front and not wait for the bigger names and the bigger guys to land the footy.'
Sean Downie spent more time forward and led the way with four goals, while key forward Thomas Lamb stepped up in the absence of Reid and Corp and booted two majors.
Jewell was thrilled with Lamb's performance.
'Thomas Lamb played his best game for the year, he was terrific,' Jewell said.
'The way he moved at the footy, he's one that's been strangled a little bit with having three or four forwards up there, limited ball coming your way.
'It got shared around a bit more and I think he really embraced the responsibility.'
Off the back of the victory, Jewell said there would be no altering the player-led approach for the season's remainder.
'It won't change from what we did last week, it'll be very much player driven and I'm still there to oversee the decisions,' he said.
'(I'm a) guide on game day during the quarters but as we get to the back-end of the year, if the players really believe in the decisions and ideas they come up with it goes a long way to having complete buy-in.'