By David Nagel
The idiom – “Good things come to those who wait” – will finally ring true for lovers of the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) in round seven this Saturday.
Apart from Kooweerup’s brave battles against Tooradin-Dalmore and Phillip Island over the last two weeks, the most recent fortnight of football has been more one-sided than trying to get control of the TV remote at home.
You’ve got no chance…especially if you’ve got kids!
The last 12 games have been decided by a combined total of 1187 points; or 98.92 points per game.
But it’s time to sweep a sad story – that still needs to be told – under the carpet and focus in on the best round of football for the season.
How’s this for a watch list; we need that bloody remote back!
The top four teams lock horns, as do the winless bottom two, while the six teams from positions five through 10 will sort out the wheat from the chaff.
No more than three positions on the ladder separate any teams that go into battle on the weekend.
The obvious place to start is at the Cobradome, where third-placed Cora Lynn welcomes competition frontrunners Nar Nar Goon to its famous patch of turf for an absolute blockbuster.
This is the place that built its reputation on hosting grand finals; and the Cobras and Goon have their eyes firmly fixed on making the grandest stage this season.
The Goon remains undefeated, with a lowest winning-margin of 49 points, while the Cobras were super-impressive in the opening rounds against the highest-calibre of opposition.
Nar Nar Goon coach Justin Stanton can’t wait for 2pm Saturday.
“It’s exciting to come up against Cora Lynn; they’ve been a strong competitor of Nar Nar Goon for a long time, certainly before my time, and last year I felt that as well,” he said.
“We played them twice and they knocked us over both times during the home and away season, so we’re very mindful that this will be a huge challenge for us against a team that is flying at this stage.”
The Goon turned around those eight and 29-poiint defeats during the 2023 season to knock the Cobras out of the finals race with a six-goal elimination final triumph.
But Stanton is fully aware of the Cobras restoration process, with Jaxon and Heath Briggs back to full health and Jimmy Munro and Will Stephenson being welcome additions in the off-season.
“You bring two guys in that have got VFL experience, certainly Munro, and then Stephenson who has Eastern Premier experience, along with his stint at Casey, yeah, they’re great additions and they’ve also got some injured guys back that are playing some very good footy,” Stanton explained.
“They’ve got great balance; as good a balance as any team going around right now.
“They don’t have 16s or 18s…but that’s a club that has certainly done well with what they’ve got.”
What the Cobras have got is a magnificent full-forward in Nathan Gardiner, who kicked 12 goals against Korumburra-Bena last week to take his career total to just north of 700.
The Goon has its own sharp-shooter in Dermott Yawney, who will need to pass a fitness test later in the week after rolling his ankle against Warragul Industrials on Mother’s Day.
A core strength of Cora Lynn over the years has been the strength, consistency and ruck-craft of Billy Thomas, who this week confronts the possibility of a triple threat.
Youngsters Nate Pipicelli and Tex Marsham filled the void left by the injured Eamon Trigg this year, but all three are firing and provide a huge headache for Thomas and Cobras coach Shaun Sparks to overcome.
“It’s been a good problem for us to have, and to try and work our way through,” Stanton said.
“We lost Triggy last year and ran with two 19 year olds, in Nate and Tex, but now we’ve got three of them in actual fact and it’s just a matter of working out what the right balance is.
“They all complement each other really well, and it’s working well, and I think that’s one of our strengths; the ability to mix things up in regards to our ruck stocks and tall-forward options as well.”
This one should be a beauty; we’ll go for the Goon to get the choccies by four points.
The other huge clash this week sees perennial finalist Phillip Island host reigning-premier Inverloch-Kongwak at Cowes.
Phillip Island coach Cam Pedersen has his team playing some good footy at the moment, although it did take three quarters for the turbo-jets to fire against Kooweerup last week.
The Bulldogs currently sit fourth, which should probably be third, after a controversial draw with Cora Lynn.
Aside from that issue, Pedersen is comfortable with how his team has performed this season.
“The Cora Lynn one was disappointing, because everyone knows we won that game, but no-one was prepared to buck the trend and do anything about it,” he said.
“That was a hard one to swallow; knowing that you’ve won a game but you only gets two points for it.
“But I think we’re pretty much on track, we lost to Nar Nar Goon but I told the boys at the start of the year that I believe Nar Nar Goon is the best team in the league, with their combination of size and mobility.
“But obviously Inverloch is still a quality team and it should be a great game on Saturday.
“We all know how each other play; it’s just a matter of implementing things and executing to get the upper hand.”
Pedersen said defensive pressure and structure would be high on the priority list at training this week.
“Our offence is taking care of itself, but we’ve got a bit of work to do on defence; the way we move around the ground and not getting too many players saturated in the one area,” he said.
“That opens up the other side of the ground, which Inverloch like to exploit, so getting more of a spread on our defence and being more organised with our team defence is something we need to focus on.
“We’ve got such a young team – apart from (Jaymie) Youle, Mark (Griffin) and (Damien) Holmes – and possess a lot of speed, we just need to communicate better and have more urgency on defence.”
The Bulldogs were slow out of the blocks last week, and a repeat of that would prove fatal against a classy Sea Eagles outfit.
Expect Paul Pattison, Ethan Park and Will Hams to continue their stellar form and the Sea Eagles to win by 11 points.
In other games this week, Kilcunda-Bass has proven itself a reliable commodity and will be too strong for Garfield, while Tooradin-Dalmore should make it five in a row with a win over the visiting Dalyston.
The game between Warragul Industrials and Kooweerup at Western Park is an intriguing contest.
The Dusties won just their second game of the season against Garfield last week, but moved the ball clinically with some precision passing and really did use their leg speed.
The move of Matt Herbert from half back to a more roaming role around the ground has added a lively spark, while Regan Awty and Kuiy Jiath have fitted nicely into the midfield.
The Demons have lost their last three, but have been super-competitive against Kilcunda-Bass, Tooradin-Dalmore and Phillip Island.
Matt Voss has taken his game to new levels as a ruck/midfielder, while Blake Peach is another player in the centre square that the Dusties will need to stop.
This is a tough one; we’ll go for the Dusties by 13 points.
And Korumburra-Bena coach Josh Hopkins will experience his first win as senior coach at the Giants when they roll out the welcome mat for Bunyip.
The Giants have had a very tough three weeks of challenges, against Nar Nar Goon, Phillip Island and Cora Lynn, but have come out the other side with their heads held high and proud.
And they’ll be able to celebrate early on their way to a 48-point victory.
