Rice in the Crows’ belly marks watershed

Longwarry

By RUSSELL BENNETT

ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – GRAND FINAL EAST DIVISION

BULN BULN v LONGWARRY
Grand Final – Saturday from 2.10pm at Western Park
Ladder positions: 2nd (14 wins, 4 losses) v 1st (17 wins, 1 loss)
Earlier this season:
Round 5 at Buln Buln – Longwarry 8.11 (59) d Buln Buln 6.8 (44).
Round 12 at Longwarry – Longwarry 10.9 (69) d Buln Buln 10.7 (67).
2nd Semi-Final at Poowong – Buln Buln 13.13 (91) d Longwarry 12.7 (79).

THIS Saturday marks a watershed day in the history of the Ellinbank and District Football League – the first grand final in the two-division era.

And what a clash we have in store – whatever the result, local fans will see an overjoyed, success-starved side on the podium just before 5pm out on Western Park.
Buln Buln won back-to-back flags in 2001 and 2002 but hasn’t had the easiest run of things since and most of its current players had no experience in senior finals until this year’s campaign.
Then there’s Longwarry; a club that has experienced a true senior premiership drought – one spanning a whopping 46 years since 1968. In fact, the Crows haven’t even reached a senior grand final in 30 years.
So, what has turned around a club that was battling just to win games not even two years ago? Perhaps that question should instead start with “who?”.
Former Carlton premiership star Dean Rice has worked wonders since his appointment by the Crows late in 2012.
He came to the club for the challenge of helping to build it into something special, and many would argue he’s already done it – building a strong all-around list with an exciting, attacking game style that many find impossible to beat. Many, not all.
At one stage this season the Crows won 17 games on the trot, but in the 2nd Semi-Final – their third game against the Lyrebirds this season – they came unstuck.
It’s clear the mind games are well underway in the days before Saturday’s decider because Buln coach Paul Alger said of that result: “We probably got out of jail against them, to be honest,” he said.
“We’ll have our hands full trying to stop them – that’s for sure.
“They’ve got some real firepower.”
The previous two encounters between these sides this season were decided by just 15 and two points – both going the Crows’ way. It’s not like they have the wood over Buln, but Alger is wary.
The two-time Catani premiership player-coach laughed off any suggestion that he would have the coaching advantage over Rice in this grand final – saying: “I don’t think I’d have any advantage whatsoever against Dean Rice when it comes to grand finals!
“I’m worried about their run and playing them on a big ground.”
Though ruck stars Matt Gray and Bob McCallum have both played in big finals, former Garfield player-coach Brent Eastwell – who led the Stars to last year’s premiership – seems to have more big game experience than the rest of the side combined.
And Alger plans to use it.
“He’s been really good for us,” he said.
“Easty’s role as a premiership coach will be crucial out on the ground.
“(But) we’ll go in as underdogs – this is a side that won 17 on the trot at one point and they’ve got genuine leg-speed and tend to put big scores on the board as well.
“Longwarry has some really dangerous forwards.
“All they have to do is get it down there.”
But there’s no way Semir Zijai, Stephen Hawkins and midfield star Tye Holland will have it all their own way.
“They’re a running side so we need to cut their time and space out,” Rice said of Buln.
“They’ve got a pretty strong forward line with their two targets and their ruckmen – so we need to do our homework and make sure we match up well.”
The two coaches agree on one thing though – that the Crows deserve to enter as favourites.
“At the end of the day you only worry about what you can control and the way we’ve played this year – we won 17 in a row – so we know that our best is the best and they should be more worried about us,” Rice said.
Bring on Saturday.