By RUSSELL BENNETT
ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
FINALS PREVIEW – WEEK 1
BUNYIP v BULN BULN
Qualifying Final 2 – Saturday from 1.55pm at Longwarry.
Ladder positions: 2nd (14 wins, 2 losses) versus 3rd (12 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw)
Earlier this season: Round 15 at Bunyip: Bunyip 14.7 (91) d Buln Buln 8.6 (54)
Bunyip players to watch: Nathan Lieshout, Jack Blakey, Kris Fletcher
Buln Buln players to watch: Matt Gray, Mitch Nobelius, Tyson Bale.
THERE’S not much that Bunyip and Buln Buln don’t know about each other by this stage of the season. The respective player-coaches Brad Walker and Brent Eastwell of the two sides are old foes from way back, and they know each other’s game styles well.
But that doesn’t make Saturday’s game at Longwarry any less intriguing. In fact, it’s the complete opposite – with match-winners across every line from both sides, including the two favourites for the league’s best-and-fairest award Nathan Lieshout and Matt Gray; it’s one thing to know who to try and clamp down on, it’s another to be able to do it.
The Bulldogs deserve to go into the game as favourites, and will – off the back of a winning streak that spans their past 12 games.
“I had a quick look at the scores on Saturday night, and I saw they had Michael Whyte and Tex (Walker) back,” Eastwell told the Gazette after the completion of Round 17.
“I thought their backline was super against us last time, but they bat even deeper now.
“Tex dots his I’s and crosses his T’s when it comes to his game-plan – he’s very thorough.
“We need to be a lot better (than last time) at not letting them get their outside run going.”
But Eastwell also praised the likes of Jeb McLeod for his ball-winning ability and he still rues the amount of coast-to-coast opportunities Bunyip had against them at The Kennel in Round 15 – a 14.7 (91) to 8.6 (54) win to the Dogs.
“With guys like Lieshout, (Zac) Vansittart, (Michael) Whyte and Tex (Walker) they’re not just a one-trick pony.
“We need to stop Nathan – he uses it so well, he kicks it 55-60 metres.”
But most important for the Lyrebirds will be accountability.
“If you’re going to go, you have to go and make sure you influence the contest,” Eastwell said, adding that would therefore have an impact on dampening Bunyip’s outside run.
“To win any game of footy you need to have an even contribution.
“It’s comforting when you have 21 contributors but you need three to four playing their role and hitting the scoreboard hard.”
For the Lyrebirds, Tyson Bale and Mitch Nobelius are in red-hot form, while the likes of Brad Virgona and Eastwell, himself, have no issue rolling their sleeves up and getting to work behind the ball.
From Bunyip’s perspective, they’ll have arguably their best side of the year lining up this week with Brent Heus probable after overcoming a back complaint.
Walker said one of the key battles was right at the centre bounce – in the ruck.
Bunyip did well against them last time out, but Walker said: “If Matty (Gray) gets on top, that changes the dynamics of the contest completely.
“We just want to make sure that throughout the day we’re consistent across every line.
“We want to share the load.”
With Hughes and Fletcher standouts up forward against the Cats; Whyte and Jeb McLeod strong in the midfield; and Lieshout, Vansittart, Lachlan Petch and Brad Wolfe stellar down back Bunyip looks to have too many players firing to be toppled this week and should win by at least four goals.
But Walker knows his men have to keep pressure on the Lyrebirds’ elite ball users.
“Bale was already a runner-up in the league best and fairest when he was still eligible for the under-18s. He provides a real x-factor,” he said.
“And Mitch (Nobelius) had a real 15-minute strong patch when we played them.”
Longwarry coach Scott Gowans has a unique perspective on each of this weekend’s finals matchups, with his side missing out on a top- eight berth. He’ll provide his predictions throughout the finals series.
“Unfortunately for Buln, I really think they’ll struggle,” he said.
“We outscored them for the last three quarters on the weekend and I just think some of their guys are on the wrong end of things, age-wise.
“I know Cora Lynn has won all those games in a row, and I think they have a better structure, but Bunyip is more even. They bat right down to their 16th or 17th player.”
Gowans predicted that Bunyip would not only win this week, but make the grand final.
“No disrespect to Buln Buln, but I think Bunyip by six or seven goals,” he said.
CORA LYNN v WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS
Qualifying Final 1 – Saturday from 2.25pm at Garfield.
Ladder positions: 1st (16 wins, 0 losses) versus 4th (11 wins, 5 losses)
Earlier this season: Round 17 at Warragul: Cora Lynn 17.15 (117) d Warragul 11.11 (77)
Cora Lynn players to watch: Ricky Clark, Ryan Gillis, Jackson Dalton
Warragul players to watch: Shane Brewster, Joel Gibson, Corey Nickels
There’s a time to celebrate a remarkable achievement, and there’s a time to get to work. Travis Marsham’s Cobras know that better than anybody, after going through the home-and-away season undefeated for the first time in the club’s history.
“We spoke about it and we ended up making a bit of a deal about it,” Marsham said of Cora Lynn’s 16-0 record so far in 2015.
But he was also quick to focus on the task at hand.
“In the finals, we start on zero points just like everyone else,” he said.
Make no mistake – winning last season hasn’t exactly taken the edge off for the Cobras. In fact, it’s made them hungrier for more success this year.
But they know their hardest work this year is yet to come.
Despite Cora Lynn winning by 40 points in Round 17 on Saturday – the first time the two sides have faced off this season – the Dusties won the centre clearance battle.
But that could awaken one hell of a scary beast. The Cobras will welcome back Sean Marchetti this week to add another dimension to a star-studded midfield brigade, but the Dusties were under-strength on Saturday and are set to welcome back a string of first-choice players of their own.
Marsham said his group was looking forward to once again playing on Garfield’s pristine Beswick Street surface after what is widely predicted to be a wet week.
But there’s plenty the Cobras need to improve on this week.
“We let Gibbo (Joel Gibson) run free and he probably had 30 touches to three-quarter-time. We can’t let that happen again,” Marsham said, adding that his side had the choice between going head-to-head with the Dusties, or opting for shut-down roles.
He also knows that the likes of Josh Peterson could be particularly damaging as well.
But their biggest point of emphasis this week will likely be on their conversion rate inside 50.
Dusties star Shane Brewster can’t wait for the contest.
“They’ve definitely earned that top spot, but (us) being in an underdog situation could work as a positive,” he said, clearly referring to most – if not all – of the attention being on the Cobras this week.
Brewster said it wasn’t that uncommon for teams to go through home-and-away seasons undefeated, “but it’s what happens now that matters”.
“Sometimes, you can take too much out of that sort of thing,” he said.
The champion midfielder and former Dusties player-coach said his side had to work on combatting Cora Lynn’s defence, and a star-studded midfield that will clearly come out breathing fire after having its colours lowered in the clearances on the weekend.
And then there’s the ruck battle to look forward to, too – David Main and Brad Horaczko versus Jayden Steers, Russell Ware and Michael MacFarlane in the middle.
The Dusties are set to welcome back three or four first-choice players this week with Ware, Ben Northover, Shane Ingham and Mat Willis all in line for a return.
But, clearly, how successful the Dusties are at shutting down Ricky Clark out of the middle will go a long way to determining whether or not they can cause an upset.
Jack Allen, too, is one they’ll be keeping any eye on off half-back, while Brewster also praised half-forward Jackson Dalton.
“He’s got an x-factor about him; he’s a real game-breaker,” he said.
“On the weekend, we moved the ball well and then fell away towards the end, but that was always going to happen, I think.
“We took a lot of confidence out it.”
But Longwarry coach Scott Gowans thinks there could be a big loss on the cards for the Dusties on the weekend.
“I don’t think they have any hope, honestly,” he said bluntly.
“To shut them down, you look at the likes of Brewster and (Michael) Ablett, but they just don’t bat anywhere near as deep as Cora Lynn.
“They look to get a handball to space and then kick it long to Nickels but Cora Lynn’s zone defence is outstanding – they just guard the space and pick those sorts of kicks off.”
Gowans predicted the Cobras would win “by eight to nine goals”, with their midfield bouncing back with a vengeance.
But he did offer an idea as to how to get past them.
“If you have the manpower, you need to possess the ball 60 to 65 per cent of the time and work slower and more direct going forward,” he said.
“That squashes the zone and keeps it under pressure to keep its shape.”
NAR NAR GOON v KOOWEERUP
Elimination Final 1 – Sunday from 2.10pm at Buln Buln.
Ladder positions: 5th (11 wins, 5 losses) versus 8th (8 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw)
Earlier this season: Round 4 at Pakenham: Nar Nar Goon 10.8 (68) d Kooweerup 6.17 (53)
Nar Nar Goon players to watch: Brendan Hermann, Brent Hughes, Mat Slattery
Kooweerup players to watch: Luke Walker, Shaun Marusic, Daniel Calteri
IT’S almost hard to believe that these two sides are playing off in an elimination final. Kooweerup was a grand finalist just last season, while the Goon entered this year with plenty of promise to rise into the top four.
For Kooweerup, last year must seem like an eternity ago – but none of that matters now. All that matters is the task at hand – win, just win, this do or die contest at Station Street on Sunday.
“It’s amazing how these other sides (from the old East) have come on,” Kooweerup player-coach Matt Shorey told the Gazette earlier in the week.
“I guess more credit was due to them.”
Kooweerup is so hard to read at this stage of the season. The talent is still there – the top-end class, and pure quality across all lines – but it’s anyone’s guess as to just which Demons side will show up on any given day.
“Our last two to three weeks have been promising,” Shorey said, referring to his side’s wins over Nyora, Catani and Longwarry.
Though it was against a struggling Nyora on Saturday, the Demons forward line was firing on all cylinders – booting 30 goals – with the likes of Sean Gramc (four) and Josh Winter (three) bobbing up with surprising hauls. They’ll be looking for a wide spread of goal-kickers again this week.
“But the Goon will be a different story this week – we know that,” Shorey said, adding that: “Something happened when we played them last time and we seemed to lose touch for six or seven weeks”.
Shorey is confident of his side pulling off an “upset” this week, given many of them learnt what it took to perform on the big stage in last year’s finals campaign.
But he knows his side’s pressure on the outside has to be up against a Goon side with a tonne of outside run.
“Henwood and Hermann will smash us if we’re not careful,” he said.
But Shorey beamed about the form of stalwart Craig Dyker down back.
“He could be in the form of his life right now,” he said.
“He’s close to the best backman in the league and he’s a true leader.”
Similar to Walker at Kooweerup, Shorey knows that Hermann is the Goon’s barometer. But the likes of Henwood (in his quarterback role), skipper Brent Hughes, and Ash Adams are also on his radar.
From the Goon’s perspective, interim coach Chris Jones said the prevailing feeling at the moment was “excitement”.
For a group that’s been through a tumultuous period in a number of ways in 2015, Jones said this week was about getting out there and doing what they do best.
“I’m just encouraging them to play with flair – they haven’t won a final in about five years but it’s time to turn that around and they’re cherry ripe to go.”
Jones said the weather forecast wouldn’t affect planning for this week’s game but added that finals footy suited a contested brand with some outside run.
“We’ve got some mature bodies and real hardness at the contest, but we have to release our outside runners,” he said.
“We know they’re powerful in their forward half, but we want to win our own ball.
“We don’t be trying to negate them too much.”
Whether this week produces a slog or a fast style, Jones is confident of a good result, and he’s hoping for a parochial Goon crowd to turn out in big numbers to support the group.
Crows mentor Scott Gowans has gone for Kooweerup to prevail in an enthralling contest, saying: “It’s mainly based on their defence.
“I think it’s stronger than the Goon’s forward line.
“If you look at each side’s midfield, they match up really well.
“(Luke) Walker is the real x-factor. He’s been inconsistent in the finals this year, but if he cuts loose in the finals – look out!”
GARFIELD v NEERIM NEERIM SOUTH
Elimination Final 2 – Sunday from 2.10pm at Nilma Darnum.
Ladder positions: 6th (10 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw) versus 7th (10 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw)
Earlier this season: Round 10 at Neerim South: Neerim South 10.14 (74) d Garfield 10.5 (65)
Garfield players to watch: Ned Marsh, Tyson Payne, Justin Berry
Neerim South players to watch: Chris Urie, Calum Shiels, Tyssen Morrow
CATS coach Jack Halligan knows Garfield is hard at the footy and a strong contested side full of big, strong bodies. But his side is, too.
That’s what makes this such a coin flip.
The Cats got the better of the Stars back in Round 10, but it’s hard to pinpoint a time in Garfield’s season where player-coach Ryan Hendy seemed more frustrated – at least outwardly.
While both of these sides are full of proven, big game players – such as the Urie boys and Tyssen Morrow at Neerim South, and Ben and Ned Marsh, along with John Atwell and Justin Berry at Garfield.
But it’s their younger brigades that could prove all the difference.
These two sides have finals history – on the biggest stage, in fact – in the not too distant past and that won’t be lost on either side. Halligan knows it.
But he’s far more focused on bringing his men back to working together as one, gelled unit following a tough loss to the Bulldogs.
He admitted the Bunyip game was a let-down, skill-wise, adding: “We missed easy targets and we need to lift.”
But the Cats have plenty of versatility – with their best players often rotating across multiple lines – and Halligan will likely exploit that on the weekend.
He predicts there’ll only be a couple of kicks in it, with the start particularly crucial.
Hendy said his boys were excited about the prospect of showing what they’re capable of on the finals stage once again, and that could set off alarm bells for the Cats. When the Stars are up and firing, there are few sides more irresistible.
Hendy said his side had no excuses this week, with virtually a full list to choose from.
“It’ll arguably be our best side on paper, but we have to get the job done,” he said.
Gowans has gone for the Cats in a thriller, though.
He says their bigger-bodied ball-winners – such as the outstanding Chris Urie – will prove too much for the Stars to handle.
“He’s an amazing footballer,” Gowans said of Urie.
“Next to Nathan Lieshout he’s probably the most dominant player in the competition right now.
“He’s a nightmare.”
