By RUSSELL BENNETT
ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – ROUND 16
THE WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS will head to the Cattery for the clear game of Round 16 on Saturday.
But while the rest of the round seems particularly one-sided on paper, each game has finals ramifications in some form.
“We have to win our last two games to make the top four and I’m just looking for the same effort we displayed against Cora Lynn,” said NEERIM NEERIM SOUTH coach Jack Halligan in the lead-up to this weekend’s big game.
“We just need a bit of composure going forward.”
When it comes to the Dusties, there’s hardly a lot of the unknown for Halligan’s men.
“Brewster is the obvious one through the middle but they’ve got plenty of players we’re going to have to keep an eye on,” he said.
“It’s got to be a full, committed team effort.”
In a particularly tough contest to pick, the Cats should be too strong at home – even if only by a couple of kicks.
NAR NAR GOON will ‘host’ LANG LANG at Cora Lynn. The boys from Spencer Street are just two points outside the top four but have just one game remaining before the finals – with a Round 17 bye. The Tigers are out of the finals race but can throw a spanner in the works with a win, and they have the cattle if they all fire on their day.
The problem for them, though, is that the Goon is playing an entertaining, free-flowing and uninhibited brand of footy that looks too irresistible – particularly when it comes to their avenues to goal. Nar Nar Goon should win by at least five goals.
KOOWEERUP will host CATANI and for the Demons, the equation couldn’t be simpler – “If we don’t win, we don’t play finals,” coach Matt Shorey said.
“We think we deserve our spot, but we still have to get there.
“(Paul) Alger is a very good coach – I rate him very highly – and even though we beat them by 10 goals in Round 1 we know their midfield is as good as any in the competition with the likes of Rodda and Benvenuto. Ryan Eaton is a very good player too – they’ve got plenty of players to watch and we can’t take them lightly.”
The Demons are likely to welcome back both Jack Carson and Ben Miller from injury this week in an effort to get some game-time into them before the finals. The Blues excel at the contest but the Demons should have too much polish and win by six goals.
Meanwhile, GARFIELD could jump to sixth – leapfrogging the Cats – if Neerim South was to drop Saturday’s game. The Stars have both the percentage buffer and smoother run home – given that they head to the showgrounds to take on Lang Lang in Round 17, while the Cats will look to find a way past the Dogs at The Kennel.
The Stars should have no trouble at home against NYORA this week – particularly given the Saints will be without player-coach Scott Clark, who copped a six-week ban at the tribunal – but Ryan Hendy and his boys have been stung too often this season by shock poor performances.
“We definitely go into every game with our eyes wide open now,” Hendy said.
“We know we can’t take any opponent for granted.”
That said, the Stars have way too much weaponry for the Saints to handle and should storm to a big win.
LONGWARRY should overcome the Magpies comfortably at POOWONG but it likely won’t have much of an impact on the Crows’ finals chances, given they’re a game and 26 percentage points behind the Demons.
In looking back on his side’s season so far, Crows coach Scott Gowans said the idea for 2015 was “to build from the ground up” by playing a youngster in the 21st spot each week. One of his initial fears was that those kids might be timid, but none of them have been. Exciting utility Jedd Serong will play tomorrow, and has been looking forward to the day for the past month.
Asked to pinpoint where his side has gone wrong at stages this season, Gowans said it has started… at the start.
“We’ve got to come out with more purpose or intent. Our starts to games just haven’t been there,” he said.
For the rest of the season he wants his players to show they can play to a structure.
“We want to stick to a structure and implement it, and it should be the same each week,” said Gowans.
Longwarry has invited applicants to apply for the coaching positions of the senior, reserves, under-18 and under-16 sides for next season. Gowans wants to return as senior coach, and says he’s happy with the process. The self-described “career coach” said he’s “100 per cent focussed” on getting the job.
BULN BULN, meanwhile, will be far too much at home for (the albeit much-improved) ELLINBANK to handle.
Bankers coach Hayden Fredericks has noticed a real upswing in his side over the past six to eight weeks.
“The effort has been a bit more consistent and the boys have had real belief – that’s the key,” he said.
While the side has been hit hard by injury during that stretch, Fredericks said the improvement in Ellinbank’s kids was a real positive.
In the other game of the round, BUNYIP should soundly beat NILMA DARNUM at Bomberland while CORA LYNN has the bye.
