Finch ready for milestone 300th game

ONE of the Bellarine Football League’s (BFL) most decorated players will mark a historic 300 games for the Modewarre Football Club later today in front of friends, family, and club supporters at Mount Moriac Reserve.

Modewarre great and four-time Les Ash Medal winner Josh Finch says his 300th game will provide a great opportunity to reflect on his journey, which began as an eight-year-old under long-time junior coach Wayne Carroll.

“I’m excited to share the moment with my teammates, especially my family; they’ve been my rock throughout my football career,” he said.

“Em, my wife, has sacrificed a lot of time for me to keep dedicating my time to football. My Mum, Dad [and] the in-laws will all be in attendance, it kind of feels like all the stars are aligning.”

Finch, just one of two BFL footballers to win the BFL’s best and fairest award four times, said responding to individual success, particularly his first Les Ash Medal in 2010, did not always come naturally.

“I was 23 when I won that first league medal, I was captain at the club, and I didn’t know how to handle the pressure, or even the perceived pressure that goes along with it.

“Particularly the following year in 2011, it wasn’t by my standards a good year, I was struggling to deal with the additional attention of opposition teams.

“The pressure of thinking I was the best player in the competition, I felt like I couldn’t make a mistake, but my teammates and coaches always supported me throughout that adjustment.”

Finch – the first Warriors player to reach 300 senior games – would win the Les Ash Medal again in 2012, 2013 and 2016, but his greatest achievement would come two years later.

The Moriac local and nine-time club best-and-fairest recipient led Modewarre to its first BFL premiership in 24 years in 2018 against Barwon Heads as co-coach alongside John Meesen.

“It was a very special day, and to wind it back to 2016, we missed out on winning that grand final and I didn’t handle losing that game too well,” Finch said.

“My dream was to win a premiership at Modewarre and that didn’t happen at the time.

“We lost to Barwon Heads in the semi-final in 2018 by 60 points and we knew we had to be at our best to beat them in the decider.

“It was just such a great day when we won, everyone played their roles perfectly to knock off a very good team.”

Coincidentally, Finch and Modewarre take on the Seagulls – who have only dropped one game this season – at 2.00pm.