The League's First Dynasty

If it’s possible, two premierships in two years may have flown under the radar.

There has only been one champion through two seasons of Nana’s football, and while the league is filled with passionate followers, NANA Winner’s two premierships haven’t quite earned the respect they deserve.

Perhaps it’s to do with Coach Manthorpe’s silence in the chat, or maybe it’s his fellow coaches’ refusal to take his side as seriously as others, but either way, it’s time to talk about the first dynasty in Nana’s history.

Perfect from Day 1

With his first three picks in the inaugural draft, Manthorpe landed himself a core unit that would eventually lead his franchise to back-to-back premierships.

Maybe it was all because of the printed spreadsheet he held walking into the room, or the constant need for a second opinion on his next selection all afternoon, either way, he struck gold.

With his first selection, he chose Patrick Dangerfield (C, F), who would average 107.5PPG, second highest among forwards behind Josh Dunkley. Tick.

His next pick was not only the second highest averaging defender in 2019, but also the highest in 2020, Jake Lloyd. Tick.

Then, after every other club had already selected one or two midfielders, with the 21st pick NANA Winner landed Andrew Gaff, who would go on to average 111PPG, sixth best in the league. Tick.

Only two other sides still hold their first three draftees, but none come close to the success of Manthorpe’s.

Gaff remains Manthorpe's favourite addition to his two-time premiership side

The Birth of a Rivalry

Through the first six rounds, two teams stood out amongst the rest, with both BOO (formerly Sam’s Team) and NANA Winner proudly holding a 5-1 record.

They both met the following week, where BOO managed to come away with the win, it was this top-of-the-table clash that became the start of a strong rivalry.

These two sides would continue to battle each other in some of the most important moments of their first two seasons.

An Accidental Miracle

Believe it or not, the league’s inaugural champion should have been Gabe’s Team.

Somehow, Tyson Manthorpe forgot to check his top-two finishing side in preparation for the 1st Qualifying Final. It was this neglection that would eventually go on to win him the premiership.

Had NANA Winner paid attention in week one of finals, they would’ve snuck past BOO and gone straight through to the Grand Final.

On the other hand, BOO (1579) would have fallen to Gabe’s Team (1593) and gone out in straight sets while Gabe’s Team went on to beat NANA Winner by three points in the Grand Final that never happened.

Somehow, the start of the first Nana’s dynasty all lies on Manthorpe forgetting to check his side.

Written off before Round 1

Despite winning it all in 2019 and retaining more than enough of their premiership roster over the off-season, only one side tipped NANA Winner to go back-to-back in 2020.

Though they opened their COVID-affected season with a loss to none other than BOO, when the league restarted in June Manthorpe’s men wasted no time in getting back to business.

They won five of their next six games, including a win over the then-premiership favourites #BeatJesse, who boasted a 5-1 record at the time.

However, midway through the year, NANA Winner had their first rough patch in their short history, losing three straight games by an average margin of 151 points.

Suddenly, the reigning premiers began to show signs of weakness, as players throughout their line up struggled to piece together respectable scores.

With four games left to play, not only were NANA Winner seemingly no chance of winning the premiership, but they were also on the brink of missing the finals, sharing an equal 5-5 record with… BOO.

But, as champion teams do, NANA Winner managed to flick the switch and win their last four games of the season, including a crucial win over BOO (yep, who else) in the final round that saw them earn a double chance in week one of finals.

The Road to Number 2

The finals turned out to be NANA Winner’s easiest part of 2020.

Tyson Manthorpe said goodbye to the strategy of not checking his team in finals, while the head coach of #BeatJesse instead adopted the strategy, leading NANA Winner to an easy win in week one, immediately moving through to their second consecutive Grand Final.

Two weeks later, it was NANA Winner and #BeatJesse facing off again in what many have accepted will be the most underwhelming Grand Final for years to come.

NANA Winner ran away with an astounding 316-point victory, with their incredible score of 1677 good enough to beat the next best score that week by 239 points, and thus, a dynasty had arrived.

And finally, we decided to talk about it.

Through 31 games of Nana’s football, no team averages more points per game than NANA Winner, no other team has won a single premiership, but one team shares an identical 20-11 win-loss record... We’ll let you guess who.

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