By Russell Bennett
“You really do savour these victories. When you’re a successful side, you take them for granted.”
Bunyip player-coach Zac Vansittart said it perfectly in the wake of his side’s stunning win over Kooweerup at home on Saturday.
Much of the core nucleus that makes up this Bulldogs side had been up and firing in the upper echelon of the Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL) for more than five years.
But this year – in terms of a pure win-loss perspective – has been nothing short of disastrous. Anything that could go wrong has, particularly in regards to player injury and unavailability, and that had seen the two-time reigning EDFL grand finalist endure a 13-game winless streak to start 2017.
But that streak was spectacularly snapped on Saturday and the image of favourite sons Nathan Lieshout and Michael Whyte holding their arms aloft in victory as the final siren sounded will surely remain one of the most memorable of the season.
With its four-point loss, 6.13 (49) to 5.15 (45), Kooweerup’s season had been turned on its head – its finals hopes in serious jeopardy.
They’d battled inconsistency in recent weeks, but no one realistically expected them to lose their fifth game in the past six since a 38-point win over early-season favourite, Inverloch Kongwak.
The Demons went into Saturday’s game without three of their best players in Daniel Calteri, Luke Walker, and Dave Collins.
But what made Bunyip’s win even more remarkable is that they were missing four of their own in Joel Gibson, Jeb McLeod, Jack Blakey, and Jason Fisher.
All told, the Bulldogs had 10 senior players unavailable.
This week though, the side will have a headache of a different kind at the selection table with a whole host of players targeting a return.
Although seemingly nothing had gone right for the red, white and blue this season prior to Saturday, there was almost no negativity emanating from the club. There were no rumours about in-fighting or anything of the sort – pointing to just how strong the club and its culture is.
“From my perspective, I couldn’t be happier with the boys,” Vansittart said in the wake of Saturday’s result.
“There hasn’t been any infighting, the morale of the group has been great, and the boys have kept turning up to training and putting in the work.
“Hopefully the win was a bit of a reward for them.”
Vansittart said the Dogs started well on Saturday but couldn’t convert their early chances into scoreboard pressure.
But when the Demons had the wind advantage in the second, they only added three majors – giving them a two-goal lead at the break.
“We felt we were getting enough of the ball and to be within two goals at half-time was really important,” Vansittart added.
Then, with momentum forged through sheer hard work and consistent pressure, the Dogs edged in front in the third.
“We probably should have been further in front, but it felt like four or five goals,” Vansittart said of his side’s 10-point advantage with a quarter to play in the low-scoring clash.
Then, in the last, Bunyip’s pressure continued while their never-say-die spirit and gut-busting endeavor rose to the fore. They were kept to just one solitary behind for the term, but they too kept the Demons goalless – restricting them to 0.7 to hold on by less than a straight kick.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many smothers in one quarter of footy,” Vansittart said.
“It was just pure desperation.”
Vansittart estimated Kooweerup had the footy in their half for 80 per cent of the final term, yet through repeat efforts time and time again the home side held on.
Few sides have sung their club song with more feeling than the Bulldogs did late on Saturday afternoon, even if by Vansittart’s own admission “half the boys didn’t even know the words!”
Vansittart said patches of footy throughout the season in which some of his boys had gone into their shells had proved costly – contributing heavily to their 0-13 start.
“But we felt we’ve been playing better footy, we’ve had more of a flow to our game, and we’ve been playing with more confidence in recent weeks,” he said.
“When you’re losing games it’s very easy to play too defensively and focus too much on just shutting down your man.”
Vansittart was full of praise for his great mate Whyte on Saturday, who he said had “well over 10 touches a quarter”.
“He was just in everything and led the way in the midfield without Jeb (McLeod) and Gibbo (Joel Gibson).”
In their place, the likes of Matt Ross and Aaron Gray spent much more time through the middle while Lachlan Petch shone down back – particularly in the final term.
“After the game we spoke about the fact that we had 21 blokes who contributed for four quarters,” Vansittart said.
“They all played their roles and stood up when they had to in the big moments.”
It’s fair to say the Dogs won’t be forgetting that one in a hurry, but where to now for Kooweerup? That’s the real question.
