JUSTIN: Alright boys, we’re in the middle of August now so we’re getting to the real business end of the season. Jonty and I were in attendance to see the first club championship of the Pakenham Warriors, weren’t we Jonty?
BEST ACTION
JONTY: Yeah we were and that’s where my best action comes from Justin! It was 44 seconds of match-winning brilliance from Mason Fraser. They were 16 points up with four and a half minutes to play but stranger things have happened in grand finals, so I wasn’t sure and there was clear tension in the crowd. Enter Fraser, in 44 seconds he bucketed three threes and put the crowd on their feet and absolutely sealed the game. It was just unbelievable and it allowed the Pakenham Warriors fans to enjoy the last few minutes and absorb the enjoyment of victory.
BLAIR: My best action comes from the clash between Narre Warren and Murrumbeena. Narre got a good win by five goals but I spoke last week about my favourite local footballer being Tom Toner, I just love watching him play, I’m going to start getting passionate like you boys do. Whenever he’s near the footy I get a bit excited and you sit up in your chair. He produced a few good moments on the weekend, but the best one was a centre clearance. Hayden Dwyer gets the clearance, follows up on ground level, runs straight up the corridor, handballs over the top to Tommy Toner and Toner slaps it on the left foot to Jake Richardson. He thought it was out of play, but it hit Richardson’s legs and bounced back to Toner running inside 50 and off one step, he snapped it on the right peg and bounced it through. It was a brilliant goal and he doesn’t need long around the play, he’s a real barometer for the side.
JONTY: Tom Toner looks like the stereotypical local footballer.
DAVE: If we wanted to see what he looked like, Blair can take a photo of the poster of him he’s got up on his bedroom wall (boys laugh).
BLAIR: Which one? (boys laugh)
DAVE: Alright boys, I’ve got a question for you for my best action. If I said to you – who won the 2015 Cleo Bachelor of the Year – would you know the answer? If I said to you – the same person was the number five draft pick in 2011 – would you know the answer?
JUSTIN: That’s a question for Jonty.
JONTY: Not that far back!
DAVE: The answer to both of those questions is Matt Buntine who now plays for Tooradin-Dalmore. That Bachelor award was a big deal back in the day, I don’t know if it’s still a thing. Anyway, it was a real dour contest between Cora Lynn and Tooradin. I thought Cora Lynn’s coaching team did brilliantly throughout the match, but it took a bit of brilliance for Tooradin to get across the line. There was about four seconds on the clock with Tooradin four points down, Buntine starts behind the pack, hits it at pace, gathers the ball cleanly, whacks it on his left boot, ball goes through for a goal and Tooradin goes in front by two points and the siren sounded as the ball hit the ground behind the goals. For all of Cora Lynn’s brilliance and their coaching masterclass, they’ll be kicking themselves at one costly lapse with Tooradin’s most accomplished player able to burst through a pack. Tooradin has now basically locked away a top-two position, which is huge in West Gippsland because it gives you a double-chance.
JUSTIN: Is it really a double-chance if you’ve gotta play the Goon in the first round of finals?
DAVE: You definitely need the double, they’re going to be hard to beat but funnier things have happened!
JUSTIN: Jonty, you completely stole my best action! I’ll move to Outer East Division 1 where first played second. It was pretty low-scoring, lots of defensive work but with Tanner Stanton back in the lineup Pakenham just looks like a completely new side. Early in the fourth quarter, he got the ball at centre half forward and off a couple steps he had a booming kick from just inside 50 that sailed through. He was brilliant on the day and I think that goal set the tone, it secured the win and secured the Lions on top of the ladder…for now.
HOT IN THE KITCHEN
JUSTIN: Now boys, over the weekend our group chat was blowing up because there’s a lot of heat on the Collingwood Football Club. I was told in our Friday morning meeting that I wasn’t allowed to bring that in as a topic (Blair and Justin laugh) so I decided on a local version. But you can best believe it’s inspired by the Pies. So it’s hot in the kitchen, who’s under pressure heading towards the finals?
BLAIR: Under pressure in the kitchen is Pearcedale. Not too dissimilar from the Pies, a month ago they had won eight on the trot and were cruising…
JONTY: You love saying ‘cruising’ when you talk about Pearcedale (boys laugh) because of their young forward Cruiz West.
BLAIR: It’s just my go-to word! But they’ve lost three of their last four in what’s been a disappointing last month and not the way you want to go into the finals series after their dominance this year. They’re under a bit of pressure and they also lost to Somerville on the weekend by seven points in a pretty thrilling contest so they need to bounce back this weekend against Devon Meadows. If they don’t, it’ll be an interesting finals series for the Dales.
JONTY: Mine is Buln Buln’s forward line. In their last two premiership years, they’ve averaged 109 and 104 points per game, this year they’re down to 81 points per game which sounds relatively healthy but they sit fourth on the ladder. The three teams above them all average over 100 points per game and it has been quite telling in recent weeks where Buln Buln hasn’t been able to put teams away. Often their three quarter time score is in the 40s or 50s and they’ll break it open in the fourth but you can’t rely on that in a final, you need to be able to put your ascendancy on the scoreboard. We know they had a lot of goalkickers leave over the off-season, that’s old news, but players like Angus Mitchell, Reece Campbell, Charlie Kilmartin and Hayden Baker need to step up and put it on the scoreboard. They’re probably one of the only premiership contenders or challengers to Neerim that don’t have that big forward, they need to get it done by committee and they need to be aware of that to have a chance of defending their premierships.
DAVE: Boys, we’ve had dull patch in West Gippsland till the weekend. But this weekend, how’s this, the top team visits second, third visits fourth and fifth visits sixth. You’ve got it in order, which means the bottom teams also have winnable games this week. Nar Nar Goon’s going to finish first, Tooradin’s going to finish second, Phillip Island’s going to finish third, Cora Lynn’s going to finish fourth, Warragul will finish fifth and then there’s a battle for sixth and seventh taking place. So Inverloch-Kongwak hosts Warragul Industrials this week, if Inverloch win they’re a 50-50 chance of making finals heading into the last round, if they lose they’re probably about a 10-percent chance. They’re definitely under the pump this weekend, they need to win to keep their spot alive and it all will come down to percentage.
JUSTIN: I’m going to move to the Outer East Premier Division and this isn’t a team we extensively cover but Olinda Ferny Creek is struggling. Probably about a month ago I said they looked like the biggest challenger to Wandin but since then they’ve lost three in a row and slid to third on the ladder. They also lost to potential finals teams Healesville, Mount Evelyn and Wandin in the process, so that means they’ve got a massive game versus Woori Yallock this week, who have taken their spot in second. I’m also going to say Gembrook Cockatoo. I’ve been saying for a couple of weeks that Emerald is soft-relegated but they’re not completely out because the Brookers have left the door open by losing three out of their last four games by 11-plus goals, dragging their percentage down. Emerald will have to win both remaining games which is probably long-odds but the reason they even have a shot is because Gembrook has looked so poor over the last month. Also, the Brookers have Wandin this week, so that could be another loss that tanks their percentage.
MAN FOR THE MOMENT
JUSTIN: We’re heading towards finals boys and as we said, we saw the Pakenham Warriors win their final over the weekend and there were a few standouts. I wanted to pose it to you boys, who are going to be the key players that are going to stand up in finals?
DAVE: Cora Lynn looked a different team on the weekend because they had two players come back who have been out for a large majority of the season, being Cory Machaya and Lachie Peluso. Machaya kicked two crunch goals in the last on the weekend and I think in a final, he could be a big difference when they’re playing teams like the Dusties. Lewis Hill from Tooradin-Dalmore, he’s one of the gun midfielders of the comp, he came back for his second game in a long time on the weekend and he looked really good but started cramping up in the third quarter. I think if Tooradin’s going to challenge Nar Nar Goon, Lewy Hill has to win the medal for best on ground in the grand final because he’s quick, he’s a Dangerfield type. He can get the ball, take two or three bounces and kick it forward. When he gets the ball in his hands in space he’s a 90-100-metre footballer and that’s what you need against the Goon to break open their structure. But to me, the ultimate answer to your question Juzzy is Nate Pipicelli. He was a premiership player in the seniors at 19 years old last year and this year he’s the starting ruck for Nar Nar Goon. I think the only way Nar Nar Goon gets beat is if opposition rucks dominate at the stoppages. The likely matchups Pipicelli is going to have in the finals series are Cam Pedersen, Billy Thomas, Piva Wright, Bobby McCallum and possibly Dale Gawley. So a 20-year-old of the premiership favourites is coming up against some real superstars; so he’s the man for the moment and if he stands tall, Nar Nar Goon win the flag easily.
JUSTIN: I’m going to go back to a man I mentioned earlier and that’s Tanner Stanton. He completely unlocks Pakenham’s midfield. Coach Justin mentioned a few weeks ago that the inside, contested footy isn’t at the level it needs to be but since Tanner returned in round 15 they’ve looked a different side. He’s led the team in disposals every game in the three games since his return. Him along with the young midfield which is really coming into its own at the right time of the season. They got a crucial win on Saturday and I think Tanner unlocks them, he’s a great contested player with his size, he has the ability to find the goals so I think he is going to be crucial in their chances to win the flag.
JONTY: We don’t talk a lot about Trafalgar, they’re just outside of our region, but speaking to people around Neerim on Saturday, there was a sense that Trafalgar is the team they’re most concerned about. I think one of the reasons why Trafalgar are a genuine threat is because of Connor Noonan, who has kept Mason McGarrity to one goal both times they’ve played each other. Speaking to McGarrity, he’s got a bit of fire in the belly to win that matchup because that’s probably the last frontier that he hasn’t quite conquered in Ellinbank other than winning a premiership. Also, Mitch Hardie, I’ve given him a few shout outs in LTS recently but he kicked the winning goal for Casey on the weekend. Casey lacked some poise going inside 50 but it took some Hardie brilliance getting into space for them to hit the front at the 27-minute mark of the last quarter. He always just pops up at the right time.
BLAIR: I’ll go to another sports desk favourite.
DAVE: Tom Toner? (Boys laugh)
BLAIR: Nah, but if we’re talking about man for the moment, Jack Wilson was the man a few weeks ago. Devon Meadows has a big game this weekend but they look like they’ve probably locked in a finals spot because he’s been huge for the side. He was probably best-on in the win against Chelsea after kicking the winner the week prior against Seaford. I don’t want to put too much pressure on the bloke, but he doesn’t seem to feel it.
JUSTIN: Great chat boys, we’ll go again next week!
