By Tyler Lewis
There’s life in these Lions.
Despite falling to Wandin, 6.4 (40) to 11.13 (79), Pakenham remains in the hunt, as an upset result elsewhere retained the Lions a win clear inside the Premier Division top five.
It’s been a unique fortnight for the Lions, who went a win clear of Monbulk last week in spite of having the bye, before the Hawks stumbled again this week.
Saturday’s 11.3 (69) to 9.7 (61) loss to Upwey Tecoma marks four defeats on the bounce for Monbulk, which will not only need to beat Pakenham in the final round, but beat and regain percentage this week against Officer as well.
While the Lions season remains intact, coach Ash Green was frustrated with his sides output on Saturday, particularly the first half, after an even second half demonstrated his side can compete with the best.
“It’s disappointing actually,” he explained.
“I gave the guys a rev at half time because to kick one goal is pretty poor to be honest.
“We were undisciplined early in the game, we gave up some easy goals through undisciplined acts and we missed easy targets by hand and foot.
“I put it to the players at half time and clearly they responded in the third quarter, which was great, but they sort of fell away in the last quarter as well.
“It’s been a bit of a forte of our season; our best footy is really good but our worst footy…. there’s too much of a gap.
“If you’re playing the standard of footy we’re playing in, the Outer East competition, to match these better sides you need to play more consistently than what we are at the moment.”
Under siege, the Lions back six managed to restrict Bulldogs goal-kicker Clinton Johnson to four goals.
And though his four-goal performance appears crucial in the context of the score-line, Johnson – who has 64 goals from 15 outings this year – has held the competitions premier defenders at bay this season.
The right-footer’s last appearance against the Lions resulted in an efficient mark, kick and convert display on his way to eight majors.
While extremely disappointed with his side’s performance, the Lions coach was complimentary of his green back six.
“They’ve been a revelation to be honest with you,” Green said.
“I mean besides Jordy Stewart, most of the guys (down there) have played less than 20 games.
“First year players in Ben McDonald, Oskar Miles, Tyrell Bignoux – Benny Green has been the most experienced bloke back there with 20 something games.
“We’ve really got a brand new back line compared to the last couple of years… with all things going on this year, those six or seven players have been pretty steady.
“They’ve been really good and we’ve unfortunately put them under a lot of pressure at times during the season.”
The Lions host Woori Yallock this weekend, with a win offering a cemented finals berth.
Narre Warren, meanwhile, bounced back in destructive fashion.
It was always going to come, a response from these Magpies, but the way in which the message was delivered was blood-chillingly cold.
After suffering their first loss of the season last week, the Pies persecuted the fourth-placed Olinda Ferny Creek in a 27-goal obliteration, 30.12 (192) to 4.6 (30).
The Pies skipped out to a 47-2 lead at the first change, before improving on their score by a minimum of five goals per quarter.
Leader of the club – and the forward end – Jake Richardson revealed the theme for his side this week surrounded a reaction, not so much on field, rather between the ears.
“For us it was more about our mindset going in,” he said.
“Making sure we play the way we want to play our footy, a lot of run, spread and win it on the inside.
“I think the week before against Woori (Yallock), we thought it might’ve just happened for us, we got pushed under the footy a lot and Woori were able to spread a lot better than we were.
“They made us look a bit slow when we watched it back on tape, but on the weekend I think the main thing was to play our brand of footy, get spread and speed on the footy going forward.”
Despite the Pies making the Bloods look elementary, Olinda Ferny Creek is set to finish fourth.
With Upwey Tecoma and Officer – which have combined for five wins this season – remaining, the Magpies will likely have three big wins, the first week of finals off, before a clash with either Wandin or Woori Yallock.
It’s far from perfect finals preparation for Narre Warren, but Richardson is confident his side will have plenty to work on to be ready for a date with either Woori Yallock or Wandin at Gembrook on Sunday 3 September.
“I think it’s about working on things we would work on, whether it be Woori, that we didn’t do against them last time,” he said.
“Doing those against Upwey (Tecoma) and Officer, with our set ups, kick-ins and how we want to move the ball going forward.
“Doing those things over the next two weeks, then going into a game with Woori knowing they’re going to have the belief now they’ve knocked us off.
“That’ll be a good contest if we do end up playing Woori in that first final.”
Each and every Pie stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday:
According to Premier Data, Kurt Mutimer had 51 disposals, 16 clearances and three goals. Trent Cody had 25 touches and five goals, while Richardson himself had 27 possessions and seven majors.
“Across the board, between him (Mutimer), I felt Tommy Miller (37 disposals) had a stack of it as well,” Richardson said.
“Trent Cody also got a heap of it, you do notice when someone is bringing in a lot of the footy, Kurt seems to do it every week though.
“I have been reasonably happy with my year, kicking a few goals which I haven’t done in the past, but my work-rate is more of a focus, getting up the ground and getting a lot of my touches on the way back.”
In the other match of the round, Officer is all but certain to be relegated, after a disappointing 14.10 (94) to 8.8 (56) loss to Mt Evelyn.
Nick Lord was excellent for Officer with three goals, while Luke Smaluch (38 disposals) and Anthony Bernardo (34 disposals) regularly found their hands on the Sherrin.
Callum Urquhart was the best for the Rovers, with four goals to go with his 22 touches.
The Roos are now a win behind the Rovers, with Monbulk at home and Narre Warren on the road in their two remaining fixtures.
In Division One, Gembrook Cockatoo sent a statement with a scintillating win over fellow finals contender Emerald.
The Brookers blitzed the Bombers, winning each of the four quarters on their way to an 18.14 (122) to 9.9 (63) victory.
Michael Firrito (five goals) and Myles Wareham (five goals) combined for 10 majors in the statement-sending triumph.
By winning the first quarter by 22 points, the second by 13, the third by six and the fourth and final by 24, it was hard for Brookers coach Brad Coller to fault the performance.
“The last quarter definitely,” he confirmed of his favourite stanza.
“Because we won each quarter, we played four quarters of footy, which I think everyone struggles to put four good quarters of footy together.
“Talking to the Emerald coaching staff afterwards and they were pretty deflated, they said we gave them a good touch up and they were surprised with our discipline and the way we set up behind the ball.
“That’s probably a credit to us to get the opposition coach to give that sort of praise I think, I think it was our best game of the year.”
Although the Brookers put the Bombers to the sword, Coller insisted his side didn’t put emphasis on giving Emerald a whack on the eve of the finals, but instead the importance of beating the sides around them.
“I don’t think we’re looking too far ahead at the moment,” he said of the mental edge.
“We have put a bit of emphasis on the next two weeks (Seville and Healesville), because we’re one 1-1 against them for the year.
“Emerald got the win against us on their home ground and then we returned the favour next time, we wanted to finish with two of the three… we weren’t really thinking of facing them in the finals.
“We have discussed that whoever wins this (Seville) game is going to be on top of the ladder, obviously Seville is already there, so it’s not as a big deal for them as it is for us.
“We’ve got good form, but who knows.”
In the other two matches of the round: Seville thrashed Yarra Glen 20.14 (134) to 8.5 (53) and Healesville secured the point over Belgrave 13.18 (96) to 9.4 (58).
Berwick Springs had the bye.
