Well here we are again, for the 3rd year in a row we have made finals under Tony’s guidance. After finishing on top for the 1st time in the club’s 30 year history, hopefully we can take the next step and bring home the premiership. This week is a huge game and to beat this mob will require our best footy with no hangovers. Not to mention we need all our supporters there to get us over the line and drown out that horrible voice we keep hearing.
Father’s Day was an absolute belter, as in the rain belted down for most the day. Oh well, I guess it was the perfect excuse to bring the old man and treat him to some good ol’ fashion wet weather footy. After Thursday night’s training we suspected George Spriggs Reserve may have turned into George Spriggs Lake, however it was just a bit swampy instead. As you may have already guessed, we were playing for top spot. We weren’t 100% sure what Gidge were going to bring since it’s the 1st time I’ve seen them not play finals. To their credit they could have decided to start Mad Monday earlier, but they actually came to play. We enjoyed a shower free 1st qtr but the footy was bloody slippery. Dano was back after a long term injury and looked classy in the wet kicking 3 goals. It was a hot footy as the weather caused a bit of a slog and plenty of shanks kept me on my toes.
The rain came down hard in the 2nd and the ball was getting heavy from the pocket of lakes popping up everywhere. Didn’t bother Jordy as he picked that ball up clean nearly every possesion and still hit the packs at the same pace. Sheps hands in the wet were exceptional as well and got plenty of hard ball too. Although the weather got worse it was our best qtr with 3.3 and a 3 goal buffer at halftime.
Knowing we needed to keep their score down to take top spot, it wasn’t an ideal start when they kicked the 1st from a 50m penalty. In fact, they even outscored us by a point in the 3rd. We had been keeping them in the game with some wayward kicking, but when Jim slotted his 1st goal since his return, that fired the lads right up.
The backline was on a mission lead by Hunty, wet or dry he marks at will, to stop them scoring anymore. Vellinga was looking good and he also had solid hands.
Down to none on the bench to start the last, poor Lyle did a hammy but had to stay on and still almost snapped one through. Big G was killing it all over the ground and really looks primed for finals, and Bainsy was an animal as usual and in everything. If we could just get him to slow down a split second he’ll hold onto everything that comes his way. Oh, and I can’t remember what qtr it was, but I had to mention that Clarkey executed his own set play running from half back to full forward, kicking a vital goal.
In the end it was just enough, taking top spot by 0.89%. Well done lads, well deserved and enjoy this history making moment, but now it’s time for the real stuff. We know how these guys play, we’ve talked about it, practiced it, and now it’s time to go out there and execute it.
CARN THE HAWKS!