Canberra Olympic Head Coach Frank Cachia has once again showcased his expertise for achieving silverware at club level in the capital, after the capture of his third trophy in 2024 saw the league champions dispatch Belconnen United 2-0 on Saturday.
Having secured another treble as a coach in Canberra following the result, after trophy hauls at Olympic’s men’s side, and Monaro Panthers, it’s an achievement that Cachia says the players deserve for their commitment throughout 2024.
“Every Grand Final is special,” he said. “It’s really special for me to see people that you work with all year actually get a reward for their effort, and it’s not just like six months, we’ve been training since November…so seeing it develop over the course of a year, that’s what makes it really special.”
Having been defeated for only the second time all season against Belconnen in the Qualifying Final two weeks ago, Cachia said his side reacted well on Grand Final day, putting in a dominant performance against an equally exceptional opponent.
“I thought we had a really good first half and we were up for it, I think that was the plan, we really wanted to make sure that we responded to a couple of things that we thought we didn’t do well enough in that semi final,” he said. “The second half, we expected them to come at us which they did, and they’re a proud side, and as much as it’s nice to see the girls do what they’ve done, the other side of it is, if you’re playing a worthy opponent it means more.
“Hats off to Scott [Conlon] and his group, they’re a very good outfit, I’m sure he’s frustrated because probably other years they might have won it, but they’ve been a great opponent all year and they bring out the best in us.”
Having scored two goals in the first period of the match through Tianah Miro and Nicole Jalocha, it was a noticeably dominant start to the match from Olympic, after failing to score until the 82nd minute in the previous meeting, and one that eventually proved to be decisive in the final result.
Despite the significance of the occasion, Cachia says an altered approach he took in the build-up to the match translated to a high-quality opening performance from his players at Deakin Stadium.
“It’s one of the first times in a long time where I didn’t actually focus on the opposition at all, it was all about us,” he explained. “Usually when I put out a team talk it’s who we’re marking and who we’re responsible for, today it was all about us, basically saying [if] we stick to our plans, we stick to our principles, we’ll get the job done, and I think the first half showed that.”
Now able to reflect on the season as a whole, Olympic’s Grand Final result comes at the end of a highly successful 2024 campaign for Cachia, who in his first season in women’s football coaching managed to navigate various challenges to set up a consistently dominant outfit.
“It’s been a very different experience to coaching men’s,” he said. “The big thing for me was, we had so many people unavailable, we used over 30 players in first grade this year which I’ve never done before in a men’s comp, [so] the fact we had so many players step up and just be the next person up ready to go, I just think it was outstanding.”
For Cachia personally, Olympic’s Grand Final victory over Belconnen completes a treble, having claimed the Charity Shield and league championship trophies in 2024, to sit alongside another treble he oversaw at Monaro Panthers in 2022, and plenty of silverware at Olympic’s men’s side.
It’s another trophy that underlines the quality of the champions’ Head Coach, and one which he feels indicates his readiness to coach at greater heights.
“People talk about players wanting to go to higher levels, I’m the same as a coach, I want to go to the highest level I can,” Cachia said. “I’ve proven it with two clubs in the men’s, I’ve proven it now I think with the women’s, I think hopefully somewhere along the line maybe I can get some sort of recognition to go on [to] another level.
Looking ahead to the coming season, Cachia is still yet to decide on his future.
“I haven’t decided what I’m doing, if anything, next year, I think we’ll go and have a bit of a celebration tonight and tomorrow and then after that we’ll sit down and work it out,” he said.
Words: Sam Watson
