At the Frankston Blues 2025 Season Launch, NBL1 South Men’s Head Coach Andrew Harms delivered a powerful speech. He reflected on the final possession of the team’s 2024 finals campaign, the emotions of the weeks that followed, and introduced the NBL1 Men’s mantra for the upcoming season.
Wayne mentioned the shot by Angus Glover and I thought I’d open with that one because it was an amazing shot and a difficult one to watch and experience.
I remember I didn’t sleep too well after that. I don’t think many people who support the Frankston Blues did. My son is a very passionate Frankston Blues fan and what I love the most about the club is the way they embrace our family members and they become part of the fabric. That’s not just mine. It’s the other coaches’ families, girlfriends, wives, partners, etcetera.
But my son, he’s an early riser. He takes after his grandfather, his pop. He got up really early and he softly taped me on the shoulder and he said “Dad, I really don’t like Angus Glover.” And I said to him. “Now look, it’s not Angus’ fault. He did exactly what Angus Glover was meant to do. He took a tough shot. And he made a tough shot. It’s not Angus Glover’s fault.” He went down, watched TV and as I laid there, I thought to myself, I wonder how many times, and truly this is a true story, I thought to myself “I wonder how many times that moment, that game that shot gets brought up over the next passage of time?” Here are some of those times.
I was getting a mole screening, and I’m with the nurse at about halfway through, she said “Are you involved in basketball?” I said “Yeah, I am” And she goes “Frankston Blues?” And I’m like, “Yeah!” And she goes “Oh my God! That shot!”. If I can tell you how many times at Woolworths Frankston, Mount Eliza everywhere. I had a 21st birthday party and a random person came up to me and he said “Hey mate, this is kind of awkward. I’m bit of a basketball fan. That Angus Glover shot, what was going on?” and I said. “Nah. Yeah, this is awkward”. And I’m not joking. the reach of that shot, and I think it speaks to the quality of the league, and I think to the amount of support we have out in the community.
The last one that really topped it for me was Boxing Day. With my wife’s family, we all go up to Daylesford, and one of her cousins comes up with new boyfriend. We’re talking and he goes. “Dude, I saw that shot online that Angus Glover. It’s a shot my mates and I shared that forever. We talked about it all the time.” I said back him “Nah Dude! Great story”
But I tell that story for an important reason. I tell that story because I think it’s what is going to continue to define us as a group moving forward. And what I mean by that and I said it to the playing group. When you play sport and you care about something and you pour your heart and soul in, and I love the chat that Dean (Kinsman) had around that and the commitment, and the trust you expose yourself to moments like that. And they’re really tough. And they can really hurt and they can make you flat and they make you question all of those things. But what defines a great club, great relationships, great mindset, is the ability to step back up to the plate, to have the courage to go. “No. We will expose ourselves to that potential outcome again.” And for us, that is going to be the mindset.
Our motto is Two More Practices.
Our motto last year was ‘Four More Practices’. Because four more practices, was we lost by a point the year before, in the qualifying final. But now we need to get to two more practices. Because we win that game, two more is the Grand Final. We will come with our chest puffed out and our ears pinned back, and we’re going to absolutely go for it and we’re going to expose ourselves to the potential for that, because the upside, these memories are what you’ll take away for the rest of your lives. I’m really excited about the opportunity this year.