Darryl Nisbet shows his elation after being named assistant coach of the MPNFL Team of the Century on Saturday night.By Brad Kingsbury
BERWICK and Cranbourne Football Club legend Darryl Nisbet was named assistant coach of the MPNFL Team of the Century at a gala dinner on Saturday night.
Nisbet was a member of the Team of the Century selection panel with Graham Kendall, Wayne Spence and chairman Alan Wickes, and was excluded from any input into the appointment of the coach, because all four had been coaches within the MPNFL in their own right.
Kendall was named coach of the team.
Consideration was given to the many other outstanding coaching performances of the past 100 years and much of the emphasis on the appointment of the coach was based on statistics including the number of premierships won, the time spent in a coaching role, number of finals appearances, the percentage of premierships won to years coached and/or other qualities and achievements over candidates’ careers.
Nisbet coached Berwick for six years, 1977-1980 and 1995-1996, winning premierships in 1979 and 1980, and also had a five-year coaching stint with the Eagles, 1984-1987 and 1999, winning flags in 1985, 1986 and 1987.
His history in football as a player dates back to 1965 with Oakleigh Districts under 17s and he went on to become one of the district’s most respected and decorated players and coaches with stints at the highest level with St Kilda, Oakleigh and Sandringham included on his resume.
Nisbet was overwhelmed after the announcement and said it was a shock.
“It’s a tremendous honour to have been involved in the team selection process and this was something I certainly was not expecting,” he said.
“The Team of the Century was hard to select because there were so many great players to choose from, but I was happy with what we came up with in the end.
“In all honesty we could have chosen sides from the players who missed out that probably would have been just as good.”
