Second Semi Final
Saturday September 13 at Moe
Leongatha V Traralgon
Traralgon will take on the TRFM Gippsland League’s minor premier Leongatha on Saturday for a spot in the 2015 TRFM Gippsland League grand final.
The man at the helm of the Maroons is confident his inform side can get the job done.
“Yeah, we are confident every week. We think that at our best, we are the team to beat. That’s what has gotten us here,” said Traralgon coach Mark Collison.
However there’s plenty of hype in the Parrots nest, as its senior side prepares to open its finals campaign.
“It’s a really good feeling around the club. Everyone is really excited. After a couple of years being out of the finals race, we are very excited being back amongst it,” said Leongatha coach Beau Vernon.
Undefeated since the first half of the year, the Maroons are confident they can upset the favourite on Saturday.
“Absolutely we haven’t set a ceiling all year. We always want to play at our best. That’s what got us here and we are confident we can give it a good go…we have two chances to make a grand final,” he said.
However its opponent, which finished the season on top of the ladder for the first time since 1997, is also confident it can get the job done when it opens its finals campaign.
“We are confident going into any game, no reason why we shouldn’t have confidence. We’ve beaten them twice this season, but we know it’s not going to be easy,” conceded Vernon who’s side has won both its clashes with Traralgon; the first by a margin of 123 points.
“We can definitely take some confidence from that. However both times we have played them they haven’t been at their strongest and they are obviously playing a better brand of footy as well,” said Vernon who will have a full list to choose from.
His Traralgon counterpart said he’s not reading too much into his side’s opening round performance.
“If we come prepared as an attacking side we think we can beat anyone. They hold no fears for us, we are confident and hope to get the job done,” Collison said.
The winning team will progress straight to this year’s grand final, but not before a well-earned week off.
“It means you don’t have to go out again, but sometimes the week off is not the best thing, depends how you train and prepare,” Vernon said.
First Semi Final
Sunday September 13 at Traralgon
Maffra V Wonthaggi
Wonthaggi kept its season alive with a win over Sale last weekend, this weekend the underdog is hoping it can knock Maffra out in straight sets, in a repeat of last year’s first semi-final.
“The pressure’s on them; they were on top of the ladder for much of the second half of the season. We will go out and give it our best shot” said Power coach Rob Railton.
Wonthaggi snuck home to beat an unlucky Sale by three points in the opening round of the finals, while the second finishing Maffra conceded its second chance, beaten by Traralgon for the second time in three weeks.
“I think it’s been good for the league with Traralgon getting over Maffra, then our struggle with Sale. It just shows it’s a good competition,” Railton said.
At the back of Maffra’s mind, will be last year’s season ending first semi-final, at the hands of Wonthaggi.
The Power kicked away after the main break, while restricting the Eagles to just one major for the second half.
Maffra will be drawing on its experienced list to undo the younger and new look Wonthaggi outfit, which will have to stop the Eagles power forward Darren Sheen who has kicked bags of eight and six goals in their respective encounters in 2015.
Last Modified on 11/09/2015 15:48
