ALBION – (1st) BYE
As minor premiers who have defeated every side in the competition, the Cats will go into the finals series as favourites, but by no means clear favourites. Spotswood is still considered the team to beat by many pundits and the fierce rivalry between these two sides, forged in last year’s grand final, has continued this year with two thrilling encounters. One would suspect more to come this season.
It’s been a gruelling season, and Albion coach Marcus Barclay believes the week off will be energising.
“We have played a lot of footy, way back to that round robin competition (the pre-season Boags Cup). We’ve got a couple of guys with a few niggles as well. It’s nothing serious but the week off will probably do them a world of good. That will give us an opportunity to have a look at the second and third teams and see how they shape up as well,” Barclay said.
Albion has had the easiest run home, having played the four bottom sides in the past four weeks.
“It’s given us an opportunity, number one – to try a few things but also one quarter here and there we’ll put our best side together, everyone in their right position, and you can almost work on a few things which in the end had almost been a bonus for us.”
Barclay said his list was almost at full-strength. Daniel Morris is due to return from a hamstring injury while Glenn Manton, rested at various times throughout the season, is expected to be at full capacity.
Barclay credited last year’s coach Paul Harrison with blooding young players, who have been cornerstones of this year’s team.
“He put his had up last year and gave the likes of Todd Finco and Josh Mcpherson and these guys a go and they’ve been terrific this year with that pace of senior footy.”
Barclay said his players wouldn’t be weighed down by the title of reigning premiers.
“If we didn’t win the grand final last year there might be a bit of pressure on the players to all of a sudden try and win one, but the fact that we have won one it doesn’t take the pressure away but the guys know deep down what it took to do it.”
Qualifying Final – Spotswood (2nd) v Altona (3rd)
Spotswood’s surprise loss to St Albans in round 13 cost the Woodsmen top spot, but coach Chris O’Keefe considers the loss a positive.
“It was very disappointing to lose at the time but it’s probably a good thing overall, just to really remind us that we’ve got to be our best every week that we go out there,” he said.
“That was a really big wake-up call for the group, especially for realising that you can’t take anyone lightly and if you’re not switched on 100 per cent and have the right attitude and attack on the footy, that these teams can beat us and will beat us.”
He said his side had used the loss as a platform to build towards finals, and the Woodsmen have been irrepressible since, winning their past five games by an average of 154 points.
“We’ve been building, especially over the last month,” O’Keefe said. “We’ve been pressing to make sure everyone’s on top of their game for the first week of the finals. Our form’s been pretty good and there’s a lot of guys who are playing really well at the moment.”
But there will be no complacency against Altona this Saturday.
“We won’t be taking anybody lightly, especially Altona. We know they’ve got a really good young list, we’ve just got to make sure we play our best footy.”
The Woodsmen welcomed back Rohan Couch from injury on the weekend and Mick Lewis should be available this Saturday, while Will Langlands is overseas but is due back before this week’s final.
Anthony Eames was disappointed with his side’s performance against Port Melbourne in round 17, when the Vikings went down by eight points, but Altona held on to third spot and will take on powerhouse Spotswood in Saturday’s qualifying final.
It was superior percentage that separated Altona from Port Melbourne Colts, who play a sudden-death match with St Albans – proving the importance of putting teams away when you’ve got the chance.
“There’s certainly no bigger test in this competition than playing against Spotswood in any given week,” Eames said. “It’s going be a massive test for our footy club to see where we’re at.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, no one expects us to win, no one probably expects us even to be competitive, so all the pressure’s on Spotswood.”
Altona, which easily beat bottom side Glen Orden on Saturday to secure the double chance, has lost twice to Spotswood this year by a combined total of 80 points. The Woodsmen have what Altona don’t – plenty of finals experience.
“That’s the question that a lot of people have asked in the last 10 years: ‘How do you overcome Spotswood in finals?’ No doubt I think they were a victim of their own success last year, and they came up against an extremely committed Albion on a couple of occasions,” Eames said. “So for us I suppose we can’t worry about what they’ve done over the last 10 years, we can only worry about next weekend. And it’s a massive task for our footy club and our team.”
Elimination Final – Port Colts (4th) v St Albans (5th)
Colts coach Peter Lunt said his side has concentrated on strengthening its defence in the second half of the year. He didn’t want his team to be one that can score freely but concede just as easily, and the Colts’ round 17 performance against Altona, when they restricted the Vikings to just 53 points at Altona’s home ground, was a significant statement.
“The midfield have really knuckled down, they’re doing some hard two-way running and it’s really paying benefits because it’s putting a lot of pressure on the ball carriers of these better sides,” Lunt said.
“It’s a pity we never found it a few weeks ago and had the right percentage to get that third spot.
“I think the big grounds over the past few weeks, against Hoppers and Altona, they hold no fears for us. I think that’s a positive going into a finals series,” Lunt said.
“We seem to have found a little bit of form at the right time of the year. The game plan that I’ve tried to implement over two seasons now really seems to be coming to fruition.
“The boys have shown a great belief in it, and they know if they stick to the plan for four quarters, they’re going to be right in it.”
For Port Melbourne to cause some upsets, which Lunt says is entirely possible, the Colts will need to be at their most efficient.
“We just haven’t got the score on the board with some of the contested possession dominance we’ve had in games.”
When the Saints upset Spotswood in Round 13, they would have been the most likely team to snare third spot if it wasn’t for the several injuries sustained that day.
“We sort of hit a peak, we were going as strong as we could then we had a massive couple of weeks were we lost seven players, it just changed the whole outlook of the team and it’s really taken a while to get back on board,” St Albans coach Ian Denny said.
The Saints have slowly been getting players back, including Aaron Henneman and Tim Senserrick, while Bruno Salamon is a possible inclusion this weekend, but losses to Albion, Altona, Hoppers Crossing and Port Melbourne have arrested St Albans’ moment going into this Sunday’s knock-out final against Port Melbourne.
Denny is pleased finals are being played on the expansive Avalon Airport Oval. The Saints play their best footy on bigger grounds.
If there’s anything that can give the side confidence, it’s that it is the only team apart from Albion to defeat Spotswood this year.
“If any other team in the competition is capable on the day it would be us, so we feel confident we can beat any team on the day given all the right circumstances and given the right personnel,” Denny said.
“There’s certainly pressure on our blokes to perform, they got there last year and we won a final, so anything less than that will be a bit of a fail for us. I know we’ve got excuses if we want to use them but the players certainly don’t want to use them, the reality is we’re going in with the attitude that we can match it with those teams.”
