By David Nagel
There were some great one-on-one battles on Saturday as four of the top-five teams in the WGFNC went toe-to-toe in a perfect pipe-opener for this year’s finals series.
But those one-on-one battles are not always played out on field, as Shaun Sparks, Lachie Gillespie, Justin Stanton and Tom Hams tried to convert whiteboard optimism into scoreboard dominance on the weekend.
“The connection between what’s on that whiteboard and what we take onto the field is hugely important…do we all understand,” Sparks said, pointing to the whiteboard, just seconds before he led Cora Lynn into battle against Tooradin-Dalmore.
“The past four weeks have been good, it’s all starting to click, let’s test ourselves again against a good football team.”
By quarter time…the narrative had changed.
The Cobras had the dominant ruck on the ground, but the impact of big Billy Thomas was being nullified by an experienced Seagulls’ midfield.
Gillespie would have been rubbing his hands together, as Brent Macaffer and Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds gave the Seagulls the edge in the battle for territory in the first 15 minutes of play.
The Cobras settled late…but Sparks was still unhappy, but controlled, at the first break.
“They are exiting front of stoppage every single time, Macaffer, Bertoli (Simmonds), they’re trying to read Billy’s hands, they want it in tight and they look for that quick overlap handball,” Sparks explained to his charges.
“We got caught out early in the first 10 to 15 minutes, then we closed down that space and our mids gave our forwards some better looks.
“Billy, get it into space, so Macaffer, Bertoli have to go in, then change direction and get back out again.
“Mids, know where it’s going and you must hold, they’re exiting front of stoppage too easily.”
The Cobras would eventually go down by two points, with Macaffer kicking the winner, but the Cobras kicked 10 goals to seven after the Seagulls initial burst to provide Sparks with reinforcement that his message is sinking in.
Just 10 minutes away at Nar Nar Goon, the battle was just as intriguing.
Hams, the Inverloch coach, addressed his players as they trailed by two points at three-quarter time.
“This is the difference,” Hams said, as he pointed to an uncontested-mark count that had slipped from 26 in the first quarter, to six and five in the second and third terms.
“What’s happening…I’ll tell you…we’re going too long down the line.
“Let’s get this up over 20, because that means we’re changing lanes and taking it on a bit more than we are at the moment.”
The Goon thwarted the expected Inverloch revival and Stanton looked proud as he explained why post-match.
“The backline held up really well, keeping them to seven goals was very, very pleasing…well done boys because they had a lot of entries today,” he said.
“Mids, terrific, and forwards, as far the pressure that you applied today, very, very pleasing.
“We knew going into the game that their strength is how they bounce off our half-forward line, how they use it, and we restricted them well in that area.”
With just four weeks to go until finals…those whiteboard markers will be working overtime!
