Third chapter for famous WGCA saga

A legendary rivalry continues...

 

By Russell Bennett

 

WGCA PREMIER DIVISION
PREVIEW – GRAND FINAL

The original needed a sequel, and the sequel deserved to be part of a trilogy.
The greatest current day rivalry in West Gippsland cricket continues on Saturday when Mark Cooper’s Kooweerup yet again stands face-to-face with Dom Paynter’s Pakenham.
The Lions have been the Premier division’s form side since Christmas, but when it comes to grand finals – to paraphrase the words of the great Demons patriarch, Ron Bright – winning is just what Kooweerup does.
Their record is awe-inspiring.
Over the past decade, the Demons have won five top-flight premierships and been runners-up in another two.
And last year’s finale proved that they’re never out of the contest, no matter how dire the situation seems.
If history is any indicator, this weekend’s grand final will be no less epic than its two predecessors.
In just three words, Paynter summed up what to expect this time around: Exciting, exhausting, and tense.
“It’s a bizarre situation,” he said , with both sides carrying the same core groups into this year’s clash as they did 12 months ago.
“We’ve both got the same core, and the same way of going about it.
“For the third year in a row, both sides have shown they’ve got the formula (for success) right.”
The fact that the Demons and Lions have made it yet again is anything but a coincidence. They both share seemingly countless similarities, with the main one being an ability to excel under the biggest pressure situations in a one-on-one battle – bat versus ball.
“Koowee is heading into its fifth straight grand final, and they’ve provided the blueprint in being able to stand up under pressure when it counts most,” Paynter said, proud of his side for being able to follow suit.
“Again, this will be high-pressure from the get-go.”
The respect that the two biggest clubs in the WGCA have for each other is obvious, and steeped in tradition.
But it also ensures that once the players step on to the field of play, the battle will be nothing short of ferocious from the first ball to the last.
They won’t be distracted by mind games or anything of the sort.
“Those side games are irrelevant to deciding a match like this,” Paynter said.
“The game, itself, will be exhausting enough as it is.
“You can’t get comfortable at any stage.”
But in those moments, where momentum seems to be insurmountable towards one side, Paynter said it was crucial to remember one thing.
“Things are never as good, or as bad, as they seem,” he said.
“It’s always somewhere in the middle.”
Both Kooweerup and Pakenham have the belief that they can win from anywhere – because they’ve both done it before.
“The proof’s in the history – they’ve both gone down to the wire,” Paynter said of the grand finals of the past two years.
“In the first one it was a big batting partnership for us (between Rob Elston and Ben Shipperd), and in the second one it was their ability to take a lot of wickets at key stages.”
Paynter acknowledged that, on paper at least, the Lions carry the better of the two form-lines into this weekend.
But he and Cooper both know that counts for precious little at this stage.
“Most mistakes that change a match come from your own team, not the opposition,” Paynter said.
This week the Lions will be sweating on the availability of gun seamer Tom Tyrrell, who injured his groin while bowling in their semi-final win over Tooradin.
While mystery sounds the severity of the injury, he was unable to see out that clash and would have to be extremely doubtful to take his place this week.
If he can’t take his spot, even more mystery surrounds his likely replacement – particularly given that Pakenham’s Sub-District side is also grand final-bound.
Given his past WGCA Premier experience, it’s reasonable to expect Paul Gramc might get the call-up if the situation arose, but then there’s the in-form Jack Melbourne to consider too. If either of them line up, would Tyrrell play in the Sub-District side as a batsman?
Like Paynter, Cooper wasn’t buying into the significance of the Lions’ and Demons’ recent form.
“If you’re a young and inexperienced it does (matter), but not really when you’re experienced,” he said.
And experienced, the Demons’ core is.
But Cooper knows the Lions will come out breathing just as much fire as his side.
“You want that redemption after any grand final loss,” he said.
“They’ll be hungry, and they’ve really lifted after Christmas.”
The significance of the Demons’ and Lions’ winning cultures shouldn’t be lost on anyone – particularly neutral observers this weekend.
It’s no fluke that both clubs have multiple grand final-bound sides, including a match-up between the pair in the Under 16s.
“We really admire what they do as a club, both on and off field,” Cooper said of Pakenham, adding that the Lions have similarities to the Demons in that regard.
As for this weekend, Cooper was adamant his side would simply go about its business, despite the enormity of the occasion.
“We don’t have much we want to do differently,” he said.
“They’re (grand finals) all about big moments, and they do it really well.
“Neither side tends to get too far ahead of each other at any point.”
Cooper said it was opponents like the Lions who made cricket so enjoyable for his side, and the biggest common denominator between the sides was their ability to absorb and cope with the pressure in the big games.
In key moments in games, and in seasons, it’s the Demons and Lions who step up time and time again.
This week it could be names like Cooper, Mathers, O’Hara, or Spicer (who scored a mountain of runs last season) who fire; or maybe Paynter, Smith, Chaplin or Elston will again step up to the plate.
Or maybe, just maybe, someone else will step up and create his own legend.

HEAD-TO-HEAD IN 2017/18
Round 3 (one-day): Kooweerup (1/148) d Pakenham (147)
Round 12: Pakenham (120 and 1/23) d Kooweerup (114)

THE TIPSTERS
Bob Taylor (WGCA president): “After the disappointment of last year in not being able to chase such a low total, I’m tipping Pakenham. Dom (Paynter) and Rob (Elston) won’t have forgotten that.”
John Simpson (Clyde Premier skipper): “I think that Pakenham will win yet another close match between them. I think both sides have some great bowlers but I think that Pakenham has more batting depth. Kooweerup, although having some real x-factor players like Jess Mathers, still need Cooper and O’Hara to get off to a good start so that the middle order doesn’t have to face fresh bowlers with a swinging ball.”
Clinton Marsh (Emerald spearhead): “Pakenham for me. Kooweerup has the experience but is heavily-reliant on Cooper and Mathers. Cooper’s wicket early will pile the pressure on the middle order, who haven’t set the world on fire this year. Pakenham plays team cricket with a great spread of talent and I think that will help them get over the line in another low-scoring, tense grand final.”
Andrew Martin (Merinda Park Premier skipper): “I’m going to have to go with Pakenham. It’s a game that could go either way depending on who’s prepared to do the dirty work. I just think Pakenham’s batting is in the better form at the moment, as it showed chasing (around) 200 and still having Elston and the like in the sheds (in the semi-final). I still won’t rule Koowee out though. If Mathers has a big day with the ball he can single-handedly win it himself.”

OUR PREDICTION
All of the tipsters are unanimous in their call that Pakenham will emerge victorious in this third instalment of the trilogy, but this will be anything but one-sided.
Pakenham carries in the better form line, and potentially the stronger middle-order.
Kooweerup will be reliant on Cooper and Mathers – as the tipsters suggest – but they’ve shown no indication this year, and in big games past, that they won’t stand up once again when it matters most.
In a game almost impossible to tip, particularly given this season’s form-line in the preceding clashes between the two sides, we’re tipping with the head (Pakenham) over the gut (Kooweerup). How’s that for fence-sitting!