Casey Cardinia League preview – round 9

By Mark Gullick
SUNDAY’S top-of-the-table clash between Beaconsfield and Cranbourne has been heavily anticipated all season and will conclude the most important round of the season to date.
Both teams have won seven matches so far and predicting a winner will be difficult.
Ladder-leading Cranbourne took the bye last week and used that time to freshen up the players’ minds and bodies.
“We had the break a couple of weeks ago so we’ll probably just go for a swim and then on Thursday we’ll work on some structures before we hoe into it the week after,” coach Doug Koop said.
He is mindful of the quality Beaconsfield outfit.
“They attack the ball pretty well, they are very competitive and they attack the goals very well. It’s certainly all contributing to their good starts. We’re looking forward to it,” he said.
Beaconsfield suffered a one-point loss to Keysborough last week.
“It’s massive and that’s why we need to learn from what happened against Keysy because Cranbourne are a top side and they’re going to come out absolutely breathing fire and ready for a big game against another top team,” Beaconsfield coach Aussie Jones said.
“We try to worry about ourselves more than anything. There’s always the odd couple of players from the opposition that you need to take care of. Cranny have probably got as many stars as anyone in the comp.
“We’ll have a couple of players that’ll get some hard jobs and maybe the outcome of some of those individual match-ups might decide the day.”
NARRE WARREN V KEYSBOROUGH
NARRE Warren (third place) hosts a Keysborough (fourth) outfit that will be brimming with confidence.
“The boys are really looking forward to it,” Keysborough coach Brad Canavan said. “I think we got a bit of belief instilled (after the Beaconsfield win) and we were proud of what we achieved, but we know Narre are a top side.
“I know Narre are very even, (but) they do have a few stars and we’ll try and get the match-ups right. Every one of our players has to be on song to beat them.”
Narre Warren continues to play solid football and coach Matt Shinners is expecting a tough match.
“I suppose their coach would have been disappointed with their effort against Cranbourne so to come out and knock off Beaconsfield by one point was a good effort. It all points towards a crackerjack game.”
PAKENHAM V DEVON MEADOWS
DEVON Meadows (fifth) will seek to halt a three-match losing streak when it travels to Pakenham (seventh).
“We certainly respect them and they are a quality side,” Panthers coach Steve O’Brien said. “They are the reigning premiers and will still be thereabouts. We certainly won’t be taking them lightly. I rate them very highly and we’ll have to be at our best to get over the line.”
Devon Meadows will go into the match without the injured trio of Aaron Henneman, Justin Hill and Daniel Rigg. “They are three quality players and you can’t replace those sorts of blokes,” O’Brien said. “We’ll probably get some young blokes into the side and give them opportunities. It’s a real test for us having three of the best players in the competition out. We’ve just got to move on and counter it the best we can and look for some of our mid-tier players to step it up a notch.”
Pakenham coach Ryan Cassidy knows his team cannot take Devon Meadows lightly.
“They’ve still got a lot of quality players that will step up, so we’ll have to be on our game,” he said. “They’re a quality outfit and they’ve been pressing most sides and they should be right up there in the top five. Anyone can beat anyone on the day. It’s going to be another even contest.
BERWICK V HAMPTON PARK
BERWICK (sixth) will host Hampton Park (eighth) in another fascinating match.
Both teams have shown good form throughout the year and remain within distance of the final five.
After a few shaky weeks, Berwick has responded with two solid wins.
“They’re a pretty good team with a couple of key forwards and we’ve probably struggled with our key backs,” coach Glenn Dale said. “We’ll try to deliver what we did last week. I know we’ll be up and down, but hopefully (the players) can deliver it again. If most of the game is tough, then hopefully we can run over the top of them at the end.”
Hampton Park has also won its last two matches, but coach Josh Taylor wants a better mindset from his players after they struggled to defeat a determined Tooradin.
“We’ve got to come with a better attitude than what we did last weekend,” Taylor said. “We’ve had two good wins now, so hopefully we’re building towards something.
“We’ll go there confident we can walk away with four points if everything goes to plan and we bring our A game.”
TOORADIN V ROC
By Saturday evening, either Tooradin (11th) or ROC 10th) will have recorded its first win of the season.
While the result has no bearing on the final five, one set of spectators will take great pleasure in the result as it has been a bleak season for both teams.
ROC has a very talented midfield with the Tivendales, the Fletchers and Dane Roy in the ruck. It will have a great contest against Tooradin’s midfield, which is younger.
The match will be played at Tooradin, which may be a big enough factor to see it take the match.