By David Nagel
The lure of an elusive first-ever premiership success is driving Tooradin-Dalmore star Julian Suarez to great new heights as he enjoys the twilight years of his career.
The versatile tall, who can play any key position on the ground – and ruck – has been starved of success in a career that has taken him from the North-West suburbs of Melbourne to the friendly township on Westernport Bay.
Suarez, who turns 34 next month, has been a regular at Tooradin since making the move from Aberfeldie for the 2012 Casey Cardinia league season.
“I played soccer as a kid but was no good at it and never really enjoyed it, but got involved with footy through a few friends at school and immediately fell in love with the game,” Suarez told the Gazette.
“I started at Airport West and then played at Keilor Park for four years and played all my juniors there. I then went to Aberfeldie in the under-18s and played seniors there until I left in 2011.”
Even through those days…success didn’t come as easily as he had hoped for.
“We had no success; we were mid-pack most of the time, fifth, sixth or seventh, but that was a very strong league. Teams like Greenvale and Maribyrnong Park were loaded with freshly retired AFL players who went there to finish out their footy.
“I just got to the point where I felt like I needed a change and wanted to play country football.
“Tom Hallinan was coaching Tooradin back then and his brother was the under-18 coach at Aberfeldie. We got along quite well and one thing led to another and I ended up making the switch.”
The commute from his home at Keilor Park to Tooradin would have been quite an enjoyable one in his first season at the club, with the Seagulls finishing third and challenging the powerhouse clubs in the competition – Cranbourne and Narre Warren.
“Tom was a good coach, pretty ferocious but we got on well,” Suarez recalls.
“I had no idea about anyone at Tooradin or any of the opposition but we went through pre-season and I remember thinking we’ve got a pretty good group here.
“We had Beau Miller, Matty Wade, Ryan White and I thought we could give it a real shake.
“We had a great year, got touched up by Cranbourne in the first final, then beat Berwick, then improved but got beaten by Cranbourne again. With what I know now, it was a great effort to be up competing with those bigger clubs that had juniors galore running around the place.”
The Seagulls would not play finals again in the Casey Cardinia – South East Football Netball League (SEFNL), but Suarez had a huge win of his own.
He met the love of his life, now wife Jacqui, when she was working at the Tooradin canteen.
Jay 16, Kal 14, and Jacqui and Julian’s three-year-old Kyrie have settled down comfortably in Kooweerup for the last two years.
Suarez said the family-friendly environment at Westernport Oval was something that attracted his attention from the start.
“Everyone made me feel welcome from day dot, and I’ve seen it since that new recruits come through and that friendly environment filters through and it’s a great club to be part of,” he said.
“Zorba (Adam Galea) Hobbsy (Michael Hobbs) and I are all around the same age and it feels like there are kids running around everywhere…we certainly feel like the old blokes of the group.
“My parents, (Annette and Michael) drive from Keilor every week to come and watch me play so I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
Tooradin’s switch across from SEFNL to the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) in 2019 saw an instant rise up the ladder. The Seagulls finished third and defeated Cora Lynn in the qualifying final before back-to-back losses against Phillip Island – and then the Cobras – saw them disappointed just one game away from the big dance.
Suarez believes the move to the WGFNC had revived the club in certain respects.
“The kids were getting better and we brought in a few recruits to fill our needs and you think you’re going to improve anyway,” Suarez said.
“Then we move into a new league and that gives you hope, then when you win a few games and the whole attitude of the club changes.
“Being more competitive and not getting flogged every week builds enjoyment and then the culture of the club starts to change and improve.
“You go from feeling a little flat, and looking forward to just a few games for the season, to being energetic and up and about…winning more games certainly makes a difference around the club.”
Suarez was a key motivator in the Seagulls most recent win over Cora Lynn – just before lockdown – visibly driving his team for their best efforts at three-quarter time.
It’s a part of his game that has naturally progressed over the years.
“I’ve always tried to be a leader but that’s probably improved over the last two or three years,” he said.
“That hurt that builds up over eight or nine years, it just burns, and you want to see the group succeed. Then there are the memories of Cora Lynn touching us up in that preliminary final and it still burns.
“Especially when you have a year off last year and it gives you an extra 12 months where you can’t do anything about it. As a whole I think we’ve really improved our resolve and our commitment and I think we started to show that before the latest lockdown.
“The way I see it, that side of things has improved 10-fold.”
Suarez credits many levels of improvement to Seagulls’ senior coach Lachie Gillespie.
“He was still playing when I came to the club so we already had a bond form those days,” he said.
“He’s definitely a player’s coach, he will tell you when you’re wrong or you’ve done something bad, but he knows how to communicate with every player and he has the respect of everyone at the club.
“The last couple of years we’ve been improving and I reckon it’s given him a bit of life as well. He’s a ripper and I think he can bring success to this club for a long time to come.”
The tall, with some of the cleanest hands in the business, has firm belief that the improving Seagulls can give this year a shake, despite the latest lockdown not coming at the ideal time.
“It’s probably a bit unfortunate that this lockdown came when we were starting to build nicely and put our best footy together I think,” he said.
“We approached those games (Garfield and Cora Lynn) as if they were must win games and I think we thrived under that pressure. Hopefully we can get back playing soon and give it a good crack,
“It’s the closest I’ve felt to success in my time at the club.”
And it’s that one dream, his first-ever premiership, that has kept his juices flowing.
“I’ve been retiring for the last four years I reckon, then you start feeling good and you’ve got the hunger to win and you just can’t give it away,” he said.
“Ideally I’d love to win a flag and finish on a high but the bodies good, mentally I feel good so we’ll keep going until it feels right to stop.”
And what would it mean to finally get his hands on the silverware?
“It would mean the world because that’s what you play footy for an strive for,” he said.
“I played in a school grand final, and we got rolled, but that’s the closest I’ve got in a long time in football. I’ve got the hunger and I don’t want to retire having not won a flag when you hear people talk about how good it is.
“We’ve got a great club, a great bunch of blokes, I couldn’t think of anything better to be honest.
“It would be the perfect finish to my career.”
Suarez, who is feeling fitter and stronger than at any stage of his career, thinks the Seagulls are in it for the long haul.
“I just love the feeling and culture of the club and love being involved with a group of like-minded people who want to strive for success,” he said.
“I sit back after a game and look around and you see so many young kids, the young kids playing seniors, the under 18s, the 16s, even the little kids running around and you think to yourself that this club is going to be around for a long time.
“We have good people in good positions running it, and I just love the place, and I’m really proud to be a part of it.”
You’ll be even prouder Jules if you can get that premiership medal around your neck.
