By David Nagel
The Lions are out and now it’s down to three!
Kooweerup and Cardinia – the greatest of rivals – will lock horns once again this week as they look to take the final step towards a place in this year’s grand final. The gritty and grinding Bulls, the reigning champs, head to Denhams Road to take on a Demons outfit searching for an incredible eighth premiership in 13 years.
Gazette Sports Editor DAVE NAGEL takes a close look at the two combatants…
WGCA Premier Division – Preliminary Final
Kooweerup (2) v Cardinia (4)
Kooweerup Stats…
Over 150 Runs: Chris Bright 498, Luke McMaster 363, Matt Davey 182, Chris O’Hara 151, Cody Miller 150.
Over 10 Wickets: Matthew Bright 23, Jess Mathers 16, Luke McMaster 16, Adam McMaster 11.
Cardinia Stats…
Over 150 Runs: Alex Nooy 380, Bradey Welsh 269, Jake Prosser 263, Matt Welsh 232, Travis Wheller 222, Leigh Paterson 152.
Over 10 Wickets: Travis Wheller 21, Jake Prosser 15, Jack Bacon 14, Lachlan Volpe 13, Dean Henwood 10.
Preview
When it comes to sustained rivalries in the West Gippsland Cricket Association (WGCA) there is simply none bigger than the one that exists between this week’s preliminary final combatants Kooweerup and Cardinia.
For 15 years now, a consistent and healthy dose of mutual respect has overshadowed the odd couple of drops of bitter hatred as the two dominant clubs in the WGCA have set their sights on nothing but premiership success.
Kooweerup, this week’s home side, has played finals ever since the Bulls defeated it in the 2007 decider, while the Bulls have missed out on the top four just twice over that same journey.
They’ve met 10 times in finals over the last 15 years…and six of those have been grand finals!
The ledger stands at three all in the biggest game of the season, with the Bulls winning in 2007, ‘09 and ‘21, while the Demons tasted success in ‘10, ’14 and ’15.
Quite remarkably, the Demons have won seven of the last 12 flags!
And now they look each other square in the eye once again, the two great rivals providing one last giant hurdle to overcome as they both look to take on Tooradin in next week’s grand final.
The Bulls – the reigning champions – well they surprised many last week with a suffocating win over an in-form Pakenham, who simply couldn’t handle the pressure that the Bulls built up.
Pakenham appeared to have more players in form, and were playing on their home deck, but the Bulls returned to the hungry and run-defying beasts that defied all challengers last year.
In typical Bulls’ style, it was a win built on guts…just the way they like it!
The Bulls’, unlike a few years back, have built a reputation under skipper Jake Prosser for being the hardest heads in the business.
In the field, Prosser has superb tactical nouse and has a bowling unit – when on song – that suits his plans to perfection.
Last week the Bulls took the pace off the ball – but not the over rate – with Dwayne Doig, Lachie Volpe, Trav Wheller, Nathan Volpe and Prosser putting the onus on the Lions to force the issue.
Jack Bacon, the only bowler to send the ‘Kooka’ down at a rapid pace, also bowled superbly to exacerbate the Lions concerns.
The Bulls’ batting line up is not firing at present, and that is a concern, but the champs have an unlikely hero that is defying the pattern to play some consistent cricket of late.
Batting at six, seven or eight, Leigh Patterson has made some crucial runs for the Bulls with scores of 23, 34, 22 not out, 19 and a gilt-edged 15 against the Lions last week.
If this week’s game turns into another low-scoring grind, Patterson will become a key player in the Bulls latter overs.
“He was touch and go to get dropped to be honest, but batted well against Kooweerup (round 10) and things have gone on from there,” Prosser said.
“He hits big balls, he trains hard, and provides a bit of an x-factor.
“But now he’s turned into a consistent player who chimes in with 15 to 35 runs when he hasn’t got many balls to face.
“We bat pretty deep, with Doigy coming in at 10, but he’s (Paterson) been really good for us of late.”
Kooweerup was dismantled by Tooradin last week in just its second poor performance of the season.
Chasing Tooradin’s 204 in round eight, the Demons were bowled out for just 117, and last week’s scorecard of 184 to 118 had a familiar look and feel about it.
The Demons were unbelievably brave with the ball, fighting back when a 200-run score looked a certainty, with Luke McMaster changing the course of the contest.
McMaster hit the bat hard and troubled the Seagulls top-order, with his ball to remove the ‘Zinger’ bails of Tom Hussey an absolute beauty!
Matt Bright also bowled well, with nine runs coming off two consecutive balls in his spell of 1/25, and he looms as another key player for the Demons this week.
Let’s be honest here…the Demons never looked like chasing down Tooradin’s moderate total of 184 last week.
They started slowly, tied down brilliantly by Kallan Braid-Ball and Russell Lehman, and never got back on track.
The two crucial elements of a run-chase – the run-rate and wickets column – were always in the Bulls favour.
If you’re in front in one of those departments, you’re always a chance, but the Demons were always behind the eight ball in both.
Quick singles were equally as hard to find as boundaries, and it’s a part of the game the Demons are going to have to work hard on in the short space of seven days.
Chris Bright and Luke McMaster have been the stars for the Demons this year, making 43 percent of their team’s runs, and the Bulls confidence levels will rise if they can get the two guns early.
“We’re always confident, but we know we’re going in as underdogs and we’ll play that card pretty heavily, and try and draw off that to be honest,” Prosser said.
“We had one really close game against Kooweerup, and were a bit underdone in the other, but we think if we play our best cricket we can get across the line…but we have to bring that to the table.
“We need to, there are no second chances and we won’t get away with making 110 this week.”
Apart from Bright and McMaster, the Demons next best scorers this season, Matt Davey and Chris O’Hara, have done most of their damage late in the innings, so it will be interesting to see what the Demons do with their batting line up.
Davey and O’Hara have been the ever-present figures during that 15-year rivalry against the Bulls…and they’re both sure to have a huge impact this weekend.
It’s really hard to tip a winner in this one.
The Demons have been the better team all season, while the charging Bulls just seem to lift their intensity when big-time finals – or silverware – are on the line.
And there’s only one bigger game than this…a grand final place is up for grabs.
Gut feel says the Bulls are a massive chance here – but it’s the Demons, on their beloved home deck, who will progress to the 2021/22 grand final against Tooradin with a thrilling one-wicket or under 10-run win.
