Sport
Goulburn Valley League coaches share thoughts ahead of first weekend of finals
There are two words which we’ve been waiting five long months to say: finals footy.
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Goulburn Valley League’s populace has slaved away in the cold, wet, windy and otherwise and now the wheat has separated from the chaff.
Six teams remain and are ready to square off in September action, so we spoke to the coaches who gave their takes ahead of the weekend’s first round of finals.
Seymour coach Ben Davey
“It definitely was a sting (losing to Shepparton last weekend) and it’s probably not the way you want to finish the home and away season by losing.
“There’s not a lot of chances left now, if you don’t play your best now you’re in a bit of strife and Echuca will make you pay if you don’t bring your best.
“It’s always to good to get the wins in the home and away season, but the main idea is to get enough wins so you get to play in the real stuff which is what we’re about to do this weekend.
“(On missing Michael Hartley, Josh Hartley and Tom O’Sullivan last weekend) those boys will play this week and we’ve just got to wait and see. We don’t have to worry about any of our VFL boys either because they don’t have finals which is a good thing.
“We’re just trying to get the vibe up and the confidence up to really fire up on Saturday.”
Echuca co-coach Sam Reid
“They (Seymour) like to get speed on the ball, which they did last time. A couple of weeks ago they had 140 uncontested marks.
“They had a loss on the weekend and I think they got done in the stoppages; they got scored heavily against and we’re a pretty good stoppage team, so we’ll take a fair bit out of that.
“We’ll back ourselves with the press to force the ball around on turnover.
“Depending on training, we have Ben (Reid) and Cam (Valentine) ; it would be good to get them back.
“We’ll look to get a few more back, hopefully, which is going to hold us in good stead.
“Four or five of those guys didn’t play the last time we faced Seymour over at Kings Park, a couple of our key players as well, so we’ll be going in pretty confident, to be honest.”
Kyabram coach Paul Newman
“We’re pleased with our home and away season and where we were able to position ourselves.
“A new season begins now, so what we’ve done up to now doesn’t matter too much. It’s all about which team will win three or four games in September. We’re happy to be in finals, but we’re not content there.
“The exciting part of finals is you find out the guys that are gonna stand up.
“There are good home and away players and guys that will stand up in big moments.
“Rhys Clark will come back into the side, and other than that it should be as last week. (Jase) Morgan’s still a week or two away.
“We have plenty of experience in finals campaign, we’ll be drawing on it throughout finals. The aim is to give ourselves a chance in the second semi-final next week.”
Mansfield coach Chad Owens
“Morale is super high. We played two good teams and were in winning positions for both, we’ve let ourselves down, but you’d be worried if there was no morale heading into a final. We’re keen to make Kyabram work for it.
“I think everyone wants to be a big-time finals player.
“I’m hoping everyone wants to stand up, but we’ve had players with unbelievably good years and I don’t expect that to change.
“(Ben) Christopher is one, we have a very good midfield group as well. I’d be surprised if anyone wasn’t aiming that way.
“(Frazer) Dale and (Tom) McDonagh have come in, not sure who’s out yet.
“We’re just super excited to play a final, the boys are pumped that it’s a night game.”
Euroa coach Scott Rowan
“It’s a big challenge over at Rochester, but we’re both in the same boat, so we’re just looking forward to getting out there and having a crack.
“Mansfield (in round 18) was very important just with the personnel we had back to get a game under their belt.
“We’ve got a squad of about 25 at the moment, so we’re still trying to work through that and have a look at what will best suit us at Rochy on Sunday.
“Everyone wants to win the finals, we know our form was really good in finals last year.
“We had some lapses during the year, so just sitting back looking at it thinking as long as we bring our A-game I still believe we’re right up there with the best in the league.
“Mooroopna are a very good side, but if we bring our pressure and play some decent footy out there I feel we can get over the top of them.”
Mooroopna coach John Lamont
“We’re not on the high that we were on 12 months ago, but we’re buoyed by that contest last week against Echuca.
“Going in really looking forward to it, majority of last year’s crew are still with us, they thoroughly enjoyed that experience of playing in two finals. It’s positive anticipation as opposed to excitement, there’s an extra spring in your step.
“Coby James goes back to the Bushrangers, still got a few to work through, (Campbell) McElhinney, Kane Atkinson or Reed Maskell-Dobbyn.
“We’ve got a healthy respect for them (Euroa). I’ve been impressed with their efforts, with all of the unavailability and injuries. They have got a lot of top-end talents, Giobbi brothers, Hayes brothers, Trotter brothers, Gleeson brothers, they’re a band of brothers.
“We’re going to need to be at our best.”