By DAVID NAGEL
BABY steps have turned into giant strides for Pakenham this season and the big improvers of 2013 are now ready to bare its claws when it hosts power-house Cranbourne in Saturday’s match-of-the-day at Toomuc Reserve.
The Lions, themselves, were a power-house once, winning the 2009 premiership before gradually fading away until they were a shadow of their former selves last year. Like two ships passing in the night, the Eagles have gone the other way, an incredible home and away record of 50 wins, four losses and one draw since the start of 2010 giving the club its most dominant era since winning eight premierships in 11 years through the ‘80s and ‘90s.
But is the tide now starting to turn back the other way?
Pakenham, under the guidance of Steve O’Bryan, has been reinvigorated, the swagger, although only partially restored, has returned and the Lions are once again hard to beat on their own deck. Four from four at Toomuc Reserve this season is proof of that.
Despite Cranbourne’s great record, it has struggled to impose itself on opposition teams this season. A draw with the struggling Tooradin and two hard-fought wins over Berwick and Beaconsfield have seen the machine-like Eagles appear almost human again.
It sets up an intriguing battle on the weekend between the second-placed Eagles and third-placed Lions.
“We should go in confident because we’re playing great footy at the moment,” O’Bryan said immediately after last week’s win over Beaconsfield.
“Cranbourne and Narre Warren are both unbelievable sides, really tough teams, but everyone thinks it’s just a two-horse race and everyone else gets pushed aside. We’ll use that as motivation to throw everything at them and just see what happens.”
One of Cranbourne’s greatest strengths in recent times has been its ability to win the contested ball count. Curtis Barker, Matt Rus, Leigh Holt, Justin Berry, Matt Fletcher and Ryan Davey can all dig deep into packs and emerge with the Sherrin. With his interleague team-mate, Marc Holt, looming large at full-forward O’Bryan knows his team will have to counter the Eagles midfield in this facet of play.
“Our contested footy’s been really good of late,” O’Bryan said.
“To stop big Marc we’ll have to match them around the ground. He’s a great player, I saw first-hand how good he is last week.”
Holt’s battle with Pakenham full-back Nathan Brown will turn the clock back a couple of seasons. The pair were regular combatants prior to Brown’s move to the Yarra Valley league and his return will see the best-of-the-best lock horns.
If Pakenham’s midfield led by O’Bryan, Dean Blake, Russ Lehman, Joel Gibson, Beau Wheeler, John Atwell and Cory Lenders can take advantage of the expected dominance of Kym Jones in the ruck, then the Lions may be able to pull a surprise.
However, it’s the mental battle of beating the Eagles that provides the biggest challenge.
Tooradin, Berwick and Beaconsfield all couldn’t conquer the Eagles when in winning positions … the Lions will join that list on Saturday.
It’s the Eagles by 23 points.
