FOOTBALL - Queenscliff’s new senior coach says he will not be setting unrealistic goals for the club ahead of next season.

Instead, after two challenging years, with limited matches and social events, Rory Nicol wants his players to enjoy being back on the field and kicking a footy again.

“I feel not a heap needs to change to be honest. I just need to grab the baton that [former coach] Steve Clark was carrying and run with it,” he said.

“Obviously I’ll implement some different things because I have a different style, but I’ll just be looking to compliment Steve’s hard work and look to develop the exciting list, which I’m looking forward to.

Clark stood down at the end of last season after four years in the role.

“I’m not going to have big expectations. We’ll just try to be the best we can be and see how far that takes us.”

As coach for four years up until 2020, Nicol is credited with turning around the fortunes of rival BFL club Newcomb and ridding it of its ‘easy beats’ tag. He has also coached at VFL and GFL levels.

Nicol has signed on for two seasons, becoming the 135 year old club’s 35th senior coach.

He said was not necessarily looking to take on a new coaching role, but Queenscliff’s culture and its talented list of youth proved too tempting.

“I was really impressed with how the club’s travelling off field, they’re very organised and have a strong volunteer base. I just found it was a very welcoming, warm community football club.

“The flip side to that is what Steve’s been able to do over the last couple of years to put some game time into the younger guys, the 17, 18 and 19 year olds. They’re at a point we’re they’re probably ready to develop further and play some more regular senior football. There’s a lot of improvement in the list,” he said.

“If you use Ocean Grove as an example, they’ve gone through a youth policy and everybody probably tipped them to finish in the bottom two or three and they just came out and surprised everyone and won a final.

“We’re going to be young, so who knows what we can achieve.”

Queenscliff Football Netball Club president Rowan Martin said Nicol was appointed after an extensive recruitment process and from a field of impressive applicants.
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“Of the short-listed candidates whittled down from an early list of eight potentials for the role, the final candidates presented and interviewed extremely well but Rory was deemed to be the best fit for our club,” he said.

Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale main streets will be decked out with new decorations, as part of plans to bring back the spirit of Christmas.

After being criticised last year for missing the mark with its decorations, the Borough of Queenscliffe has splurged on new festive flags, wreaths and Christmas trees to add colour to the twin towns.

And the Lighting of the Christmas tree – held last year without crowds - is also in for a shake up, with plans to flick the switch from a community celebration in the heart of the Point Lonsdale village.

Mayor Ross Ebbels said Council had been working with traders and schools to reinvigorate the annual event with additional activities and in a way that supported local business.

“Obviously the first question is can you see the Christmas tree from the main street and yes, you can, so the aim would be to have a big community celebration and the lights would be lit remotely from there,” he said.

Mayor Ross Ebbels said Council would use $200,000 ,allocated to it under the latest round of the Victorian Government’s COVIDSafe Outdoor Activation Fund, to reactivate outdoor dining and support entertainment in the heart of both towns.

“We haven’t decided what it will look like but we’ve got some more outdoor dining opportunities and activitations coming as well so that locals and visitors can enjoy the outdoors and what we love about the borough,” he said.

Business owners in both towns have been working up ideas behind the scenes to bring life back to both CBDs after two challenging years of lockdowns and restrictions.

Point Lonsdale’s wish list includes a twilight events program incorporating live music, al fresco dining and street picnics. There would be more seating, tables and umbrellas, street stalls, trees filled with fairy lights in the adjacent park and shop fronts would be lit up like Myer Christmas windows.

“Covid’s been a blow but we’ve seen all the shops here taken over by new and energised people and I think this plan is just building on that energy. There’s a fresh commitment to come together as traders,” said Trish Berry, owner of Noble Rot wine bar.
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“This time last year there were four empty shops – one fifth of the shops – and then there’s been four new can do people come in and really really different shops. The offerings are so typical of here,” added Chris Dineen, who together with wife Sally Denehy owns specialty shop La Monique.

Brightly coloured scallop shells are hanging from the windows of homes on Queenscliff’s Fisherman Flat as a sign of good things to come. 

The shells have been hand-painted by sisters Rihanna and Tahlia Mercieca, reviving a local fishing tradition.

“Spring was traditionally a time of hope and prosperity for the fishing families on the Flat. It meant fish and shellfish were plentiful, bills were paid and they could look to the future with hope,” said local historian and fellow Flat’s resident Maggie Stowers. 

“Some fishermen decorated their houses with scallop shells. So we came up with an idea to decorate scallop shells and offer them to the residents of the Flat to brighten their houses and bring a little bit of hope.”

Rihanna and Tahlia - St Aloysius Primary School students - collected, scrubbed and decorated the shells during the recent school holidays with some help from their parents. 
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“It took many hours to create the beautiful artwork on the shells, and they look stunning in the windows and on the houses. The project has brought hope and happiness to the Flat,” said Mrs Stowers.
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