EVERYTHING seems to be going to plan down at Kealba Green Gully.
The Cougars are perched nicely on top of the NWMCA’s George Luscombe Shield table with just two games to come and nine wins from 12 outings.
Captain-coach Andrew Lambropoulos credited his team’s attitude and unity with their successful summer to date.
“Over the Christmas and New Year (break) a lot of the individuals put in a lot of work to maintain their fitness and got together often and worked hard,” he said.
“They came back fit and ready to go and the results have shown it, really. I couldn’t be happier in that sense.”
The Cougars have won six straight but are still locked in a battle for top spot with Pascoe Vale Central.
“It is pleasing, we had a slow start to the season but we’ve set ourselves to peak at finals time, and look I’m happy with the way things are going,” Lambropoulos said.
The skipper himself has enjoyed a revival of his own, recently smashing an unbeaten 179 against Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows.
It was easily the best innings of the summer to date and only the fourth century scored in the Luscombe Shield this season, but Lambropoulos was happy to play it down.
“I wouldn’t consider that to be my best innings,” he said. “I know it’s my highest – but I’ve batted in tougher innings than that.”
However Lambropoulos did admit it was important he stepped up after an indifferent season with the bat, and said the responsibility of being captain and coach had come at a cost to his own form.
“I was just worried about everyone else’s performance and I was throwing myself around a bit and batting in different positions,” he said. “So I just decided I would silence the critics and give myself a little bit of confidence and knuckle down and make a score, just for my own good.”
Having restored some personal respect Lambropoulos is now focused on leading his team to the mountain top once more, and is looking forward to competing with the competition’s other leading contenders, some of whom also look to be on track for big things come March.
“Obviously this year we’re the hunted as opposed to being the hunters, so it’s slightly different – and at the moment we are obviously the reigning premiers so we’d have to be up there somewhere,” he said.
