By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne started the third quarter of its second semi-final win against Cheltenham with Ben Pola, Dylan Cavalot and Zak Roscoe in the midfield.
While it was out of necessity with Jarryd Barker off with a yellow card, metaphorically it was a statement of the brutish ‘defensive will’ that clawed Cranbourne back into a game the club went on to win by 15 points.
After turning it around in an unrewarded third, the last quarter comeback was precipitated by a Roscoe and Barker September special.
At stoppage, they laid tackles, scrapped, smothered and, collectively, allowed Cheltenham only one last-quarter centre clearance.
Individually, they each found targets by foot, cracked in and played game scenario to perfection.
“She was pretty special,” said Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien of the midfielders in the last quarter.
“They were just willing to run and run and that’s what we said at three quarter time, we were going to have to be willing to do that.
“(Roscoe and Barker) are great leaders but I thought it was a total team effort.
“They were outstanding in being able to follow the plan.
“That’s what’s so good about coaching these boys.”
After Cranbourne had all the run at the start of the last quarter, it took a perfect Barker kick in front of Marc Holt to finally get the first.
Barker also ran out the front of the centre clearance and banged it deep to Holt moments later, a deep and dangerous entry which ultimately gave Cranbourne the lead at the 11-minute-mark.
Then it was Roscoe’s turn to set up; a hot potato footy between the arcs resulted in the Cranbourne midfielder winning a ‘holding-the-ball free kick’ after laying a huge tackle.
He then kicked it into space, inviting Dickson to run onto it, with the centre-half-forward kicking the ensuing goal.
Having proved untouchable all quarter, Roscoe burst through two Rosellas and tried to find Anthony Fischer laterally inside 50 but had his handball interrupted.
In response, he body tackled the Cheltenham defender who surrendered his prior opportunity by momentarily hesitating thanks to the setup of the Cranbourne defence.
In between his own highlight-worthy entry kicks, Barker also had big moments which prevented Cheltenham winning separate centre clearances.
What defined the team outing, though, was when he ran back into traffic with the Eagles still down by more than two goals, putting his body on the line as Shaun Keenan ran off a metre away, having copped a big blow by putting his head similarly over the ball.
“I definitely felt after the contest, the spread in the first half, they were elite and we were able to nullify that in the second half,” Barker said, deflecting attention from his own performance.
“We turned the contested ball around and that gave us a lot more space and opportunity going forward.
“I tried to raise the pressure in the second half.
“That’s finals footy, it’s what you need to do to win games of footy and we did that well in the second half.”
Barker has only one junior premiership to his name, and can hardly remember playing a senior final.
He played with the hunger of a player keen to give himself a shot in the last game of the season after missing last year’s triumph with an ACL injury.
“It’s going to be so, so awesome playing in a grand final,” Barker said, the mention of a grand final perking his voice up and straightening his back in excited anticipation.
As well as Barker, defensive mid Cavalot missed last year’s flag with injury, as did pinch-hitting ruck Jake Stephens.
Between the primary midfield group, which also includes Pola and starting ruck Michael Boland, only Pola has missed one game this season.
“We’ve got good chemistry through the midfield but I thought halfway through the year we had a slack patch,” Barker said.
“But we really worked on that, and came together, and we’re working well together now.
“I think it’s just a lot of communication – we just went into our shells a little bit and probably weren’t talking as much, or working together in that midfield group, especially if Zak’s getting tagged which makes it a two on three.”
As well as the dozen moments the star duo had, Pola and Cavalot used their physicality, got important touches, and kept it in close when they needed to.
Boland also clearly won his position on Saturday, using his leap and directing his taps well.
His relieving man Stephens ensured his team’s stoppage dominance continued when Boland was resting, using his direct opponent’s size against him.
