By David Nagel
Will Kilcunda-Bass pull a surprise or does Nar Nar Goon have its measure when the two teams open the WGFNC finals series with an elimination final at Inverloch on Saturday?
Gazette Sports Editor David Nagel runs his eye over the contest.
ELIMINATION FINAL 1
NAR NAR GOON V KILCUNDA-BASS
Saturday at Inverloch
LAST TIME THEY MET
Nar Nar Goon 23.16(154) def Kilcunda-Bass 5.4(34)
KEY PLAYERS
NAR NAR GOON
Dermott Yawney
Dermie started the season on fire, booting 35 goals in seven matches, before suffering a serious hamstring injury at Tooradin in round nine.
He missed five weeks of footy and came back in tentative fashion but has really hit his straps over the last three weeks of the season.
He only kicked two goals, but was vitally important in a one-point win over Cora Lynn in round 16, before kicking six goals against Garfield a week later.
If there were any doubts still lingering about his impact, they were answered last week against Phillip Island when he was clearly the most damaging forward on the ground.
He kicked six goals against Kilcunda-Bass the only time they met this year; and looks ominously poised for a repeat.
KILCUNDA-BASS
Dean McRae
It won’t so much be his goal-kicking ability that is important – with 37 of those for the season – but more the centre-half-forwards ability to impact Nar Nar Goon’s intercept marking specialists.
Goon centre half back James Cairns takes those intercept marks for fun, so McRae’s job will be to bring the ball to ground and allow the smaller hybrid forwards and running midfielders to go to work.
Anthony Daraio has 47 goals for the season, and absolutely thrives on forward-half chaos, while Travis Tuck can do it either in the air or down low.
Those three have dominated the scoring for the Panthers this year and will need to take advantage of every available opportunity if the Panthers are to progress to week two.
OUR TIP
Everybody except Nar Nar Goon’s loyal band of supporters will be hoping the only meeting between these two sides doesn’t provide an accurate pointer to their elimination final on Saturday.
The Goon thumped the Panthers by 120 points in round eight at Spencer Street, kicking 15 goals to three after half time in a very impressive display of hard running and efficient football.
How Panthers’ coach Lee Rowe plans to stop that run and carry will be a key watch in the early stages of the contest.
The Goon has runners on every line with Harry Brain, JJ Peni, Jake Smith, Aidan Pipicelli and Jed Smith capable of breaking lines and transitioning the football with ease.
If that happens on the weekend, allowing forwards Dermott Yawney, Jarrod Smith and Troy McDermott space to operate; then this could get ugly in a hurry.
But the Panthers produced their best game for the season against Cora Lynn last week, showing true grit to push the premiership fancies to the limit.
Players like Tim Gunn, Jo West and Travis Tuck have all played in bigger games than this before and will certainly not be overawed by the occasion.
Lochlan Scott will likely get the job on Yawney, after keeping Nathan Gardiner to just three goals against Cora Lynn last week, while the gun midfield combination of Dale Gawley and Nathan Foote will need to be at their best to combat Pipicelli and his inspirational skipper Trent Armour.
The Panthers were brave against Cora Lynn last week; bringing supreme effort to every contest and it simply has to be that way again.
Rowe has done brilliantly to lead his team to finals, but it all comes to a screeching halt on Saturday.
It’s the Goon to win comfortably by 39 points.
