The GDFL ladder is tighter than usual at this time of the year and one contender believes the rising tide will lift all boats.
Often split between finals contenders and also-rans already by this time of the year, the Geelong & District ladder is tight ahead of a split round, with six of the 12 teams split by one game.
Cordner-Maas’ Eagles sit above the fray, having won five of their first six games, trailing only Thomson on the ladder.
Ben Mulvahil for East Geelong.
East Geelong finished last year on top of the GDFL ladder before bring bundled out in straight sets and Cordner-Maas said the extra competition in 2023 might help prepare for finals.
“It’s a good little transition period, I have only been in the league for two years but last year it did get a little monotonous,” he said.
“This year, you check the scores after every game and there is a result that is surprising, which is good and it means every week you are turning up really knowing you have to be on your game.
“Particularly when we get a bit closer to finals, I think last year we played a few easy games to finish before finals, where this year you won’t get that.”
The Eagles walked away from Saturday’s loss to Werribee Centrals without serious concerns, having won their first five games of the season.
Sam Lowe is on the way back from a broken foot.
Cordner-Maas said the Centurions proved too good at home and his team already knew it had things to work on before the loss.
“We are pretty happy as a coaching group and we know as a squad we have things we will work on and keep at it,” he said.
“Defensively we have been working on a tweaking a few little things. We felt like we were defending a bit lax, so we are trying to be a little bit more aggressive in our structure. And when we have the ball, we can go into our shells a little bit so we are just trying to play free flowing footy.”
East Geelong will have this weekend off as part of the GDFL’s split round, giving time for Jayden Fanning to recover from concussion.
Leader Sam Lowe (broken foot) is expected back within the next four weeks.