Athletes at any level thrive off of competition and rising through adversity to achieve a stated goal.
If you’re a team like Narre Warren in the Outer East, however, motivation can, at times, be hard to come by.
15 wins with an average winning margin of 81 points in 2023 suggests incentive can, at times, be difficult to muster.
Round 17s clash with Mt Evelyn, however, finally offered a contest with substance.
The travelling Rovers, who made life difficult for the Magpies in round seven’s fixture, were taking the field for the final time in 2023, with a win imperative to securing a place in the top five.
The Magpies, on the other hand, had a week off in mind, likely to sew-up the minor premiership and the best possible path to a repeat grand final appearance, keen to add another piece of silverware to a burgeoning trophy cabinet.
With so much at stake, a calf injury to Rovers ruck Will Gordon during the warm-up threatened to derail the visitors before the opening siren.
Emergency strapping and deep heat was applied before he was just passed-fit to take his spot in the side.
A goal from the opening centre clearance to Matthew Gibbons was just what the Rovers needed, the lively forward wrapping up Lachlan Benson deep in the forward line and converting the resulting free kick.
In case the Magpies had any doubts, it was clear that the Rovers were here to play.
The quick major seemed to spark the home side into gear.
Jesse Davies and Will Howe goaled deep in the forward 50 despite desperate efforts of the Rovers backs and by the quarter’s halfway point, the game was completely on Narre Warren’s terms.
While the rain had stopped falling, conditions under foot remained slick, and Mt Evelyn was slow to adjust.
Defenders took the front position at marking contests while Magpies forward were content to let the ball hit the deck and play a ground-level game, overwhelming with numbers at the contest.
Poor kicking for goal kept the Rovers in the contest, Gibbons’ second cutting the lead to just seven points despite the nine-to-two disparity in shots for goal.
An electric five minutes from the reigning premiers then saw three goals kicked in a matter of moments for a 25-point buffer at the first break.
Joel Zietsman’s finish on the run, the last in that stretch, offered a perfect indicator of the gap between the sides, the Magpies executing perfectly at a forward 50 stoppage and allowing the key defender to slot a major on the run after a chain of handballs out of the traffic.
The first break came at an ideal time for the visitors who took the opportunity to reset, 12 shots to two in the opening term setting off all kinds of alarm bells.
Not accustomed to the bigger decks in the South East, Narre Warren looked to exploit the width on offer at every contest.
The returning Tom Toner and Jacob Mutimer made a point of holding their position on respective wings as much as they could, where the Rovers’ attempt to shrink space was unsuccessful, Magpies appearing out of nowhere like sprinkler heads on turnover.
On Mt Evelyn’s deck they can bypass the wings, such is the lack of space on offer, but Kalora Park requires an extra couple of kicks.
Max Kleverkamp and Daimon Kift could hold their own at stoppages in spite of the size of Kurt Mutimer but the ball in open space was where things came unstuck.
When they began lowering their eyes and force a bit of run and carry, it reaped some success, and kept the ball out of Magpies’ hands.
But one goal to two in the second term didn’t move the needle, rather simply stemmed the bleeding, the Magpies up by 34 points at the half.
The clotting ended during the long break, the Magpies kicking four goals in the third term with their defensive press and running game firing on all cylinders.
Jake Richardson worked his way into the game with a goal from a stoppage, Zietsman kicked a third and then smothered a kick with his head that allowed Kurt Mutimer to capitalise, the Rovers unable to progress the ball beyond the halfway mark for much of the quarter.
A 10-goal lead at the final break took any heat out of the final term, the Magpies cruising to a 56-point and likely booking a week off, barring a catastrophe next week.
13.19 97 to 6.5 41 didn’t reflect their dominance on the day, but 32 shots on goal to 11 certainly did.
They started the year with the goal of going back to back, and they’re now in as good a position as they could be to do so.
“We still want to win next week, but the week off is what we need,” coach Shane Dwyer said post-game.
“Next week will be hard and that’s the perfect run in. I think last year it was blowout, blowout, blowout going in (to finals), so this year we’ve got Upwey who were fourth, these guys who were fifth and Woori Yallock who are third.
“They had to win today to play finals. I think Woori are locked in to third but they’re not going to rest anyone and neither will we. It’ll be a good hit-out next week.”
Despite the margin, Dwyer didn’t feel his side executed as well as they could have in the opening half, but was pleased that they responded in the second, and executed specific instructions designed to bring their opponents unstuck.
“I don’t think we kicked inside 50 very well at all, but I think in the third quarter we were a bit better than the rest of the day. The boys went to work a bit better and started doing things we’re used to them doing, and that improved.
“At quarter time we made a strong focus on getting it out, getting it on the outside to our runners and trying to stretch them that way, because we didn’t think they’d be able to go with us, which was reflected in the score.
“Kift and Kleverkamp had a lot of it but I don’t think they hurt us that much. A lot of their touches were in our back half so we didn’t mind.
“We wanted to get out and wide and try to channel back in, centre-forward. We didn’t channel back in that well, but we made the ground big.”
Key defender Zietsman’s glowing run of form to finish the year continues, kicking three while holding down a key spot in the back line.
Howe and Riley Siwes kicked two each, Hamish West, Brad Scalzo and Corey Bader among the Magpies’ other standouts.
The Rovers’ destiny is now out of their hands, relying on Monbulk to thrash Upwey Tecoma in order to leap the Tigers on percentage next week and sneak into fifth.
Ashley Gibbons and Riley Baxter among their key players, with Kift and Kleverkamp putting in a solid shift.
