AN inspirational piece of coaching by Queanbeyan Tigers AFL Canberra division one coach Paul Campbell secured his men their first premiership in three years as they beat Ainslie by four goals last Sunday.
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Veteran club man of over 200 games Neil Irwin was switched to full-forward during the match, after having played the entire season at full-back, and kicked five goals in the second half to lead his side to an inspirational 10.7.67 to 7.7.49 win at Gungahlin Town Centre Oval.
"We put Neil Irwin forward. He'd actually played full-back all year, and he ended up kicking five goals, so whilst one guy doesn't make a team, it certainly made a difference," Campbell said.
While he did not concede it before the match, it was a tactic Campbell had up his sleeve, but knowing he had not used it all season, admitted it was a risk at the time.
But having kicked just three goals in the entire first half to be leading by just 23-20, he knew he had to do something to get more success in his men's forward 50.
"We knew if we played our game, including structural changes, we would be sweet," Campbell said.
"Some of the older guys at the front stood up, but our younger players played really well too."
Campbell admitted injecting Irwin to the forwards helped boost that part of the field with his experience, but he refused to admit it was a one man effort that saw his team home.
The match scorecard read just four Queanbeyan players in Irwin, man-of-the-match Matt Liddle, Sam Adams and Cody Kickett as goal kickers, but Campbell said the efforts of his other men lead to their successes.
"I'd say we won 17 of the 22 positions across the day," he said.
"If you win more positions on the ground, you win a game of footy."
The win ended Queanbeyan's hoodoo against Ainslie, who beat them in their last grand final meeting in 2012.