ALL EYES in the Gippsland League will be on the top five clash between Moe and Traralgon at the Ted Summerton Reserve on Saturday with the result expected to frank Moe’s premiership claims, alongside those of Leongatha, as the top two contenders in season 2023 after six rounds.
A win by Moe will clear the way to a much-anticipated meeting between the rampaging Parrots and the marauding Lions, both building very healthy percentages on the back of some big results, at Leongatha in Round 7.
The Parrots will of course have to beat Morwell at Tigerland first to set up that clash with Morwell coming off a decent effort against Moe in Round 1, a solid win over the underestimated Drouin in Round 2 and, most recently, off the back of an impressive effort against Maffra last week.
The Parrots can expected to be tested at Morwell, a ground where they do however, traditionally perform well but they will want to win more so for Cam Stones 100th game than to keep their state-leading record intact
They go into the match with a virtually unchanged line-up with only Matt Borschmann coming in for Cam Olden who is back up to Richmond in the VFL this week.
The Parrots boast a lethal looking forward line with proven goal kickers including Jenson Garnham, Jack Ginnane and Jack Hume, but also with the likes of Aaron Turton, Tallin Brill and Jesse Burns applying plenty of forward pressure in an impressively well-balanced attack.
You feel that if the opposition manages to hold one or even two of the Parrots’ goal-kicking options, others are quite capable of bobbing up.
But, it’s the Parrots to win to set up a blockbuster at home the following week against Moe
Power on the road
Wonthaggi Power has made only one change ahead of the longest trip in the Gippsland League, Bass Coast to Bairnsdale this Saturday, admittedly having to leave out the linchpin of their defence, Shannon Bray, who hasn’t come up after an ankle injury.
They’ll also be missing Jack Hutchinson, almost ready to return but given an extra week to get completely right after an injury against Maffra a couple of weeks ago.
“We’ll all make the trip up to Bairnsdale separately but we’re really looking forward to it,” said coach Jarryd Blair this week.
“We’re comfortable with where we’re at as far as the makeup of the team goes, but our form has been a bit patchy and we’re looking to work on that.
“It’s been more of a case of individual blokes looking for consistently at different times, rather than a team thing but it’s something we’re aware of.”
Blair said they were also looking to strike the right balance up forward and judged that better delivery into the forward line was a key part of that.
“The ball movement coming in is something we’re conscious of but we’re happy with the effort.”
And he wasn’t at all surprised at the contest Drouin brought last week when they hit the front with only minutes to go at Wonthaggi.
“They’ve pushed four sides to within 10 points this year and they’ll definitely catch a few teams out as they go along. We weren’t at all surprised that they kept coming.”
Wonthaggi has a strong Reserves group to call upon and the club is delighted with the progress of the Under 16s but acknowledge they need an Under 18s side to complete the picture.
“All we can do is keep improving our programs and what we offer as a club, and I think we’re doing that. We’ve got a talented group of bottom age under 16s there and we’re really excited about that.”
Blair said there was plenty of competition locally for a limited number of young players, from strong clubs with less travelling time, but it was also important to be trying to get more kids to play generally.
Traditionally, Bairnsdale are a much stronger side at home, or near home, as Maffra, Sale and Drouin found out in the first few rounds, and if Wonthaggi needs a benchmark on the Redlegs output at home, they only need to look back to Round 3 when they came out strongly against Drouin in the first quarter and won a high-scoring game by seven points.