The Champions of the 2012 Peter Jackson VFL Season will be decided upon this Sunday on the big stage at Etihad Stadium. Reining Premiers Port Melbourne face the brunt of an abounding AFL listed Geelong Cats side in an attempt to snag back to back honours.
Although Port Melbourne enters the match with the confidence of their 2011 victory, their side bears little resemblance to their clean sweep premiership side. Coach Gary Ayres has taken the challenge of a new side with optimism and has obviously been successful in his endeavours.
“Considering we lost 800 games of experience last year after the premiership, I think it has been a terrific turnover but in a positive way not a negative way.
“That team had a lot more class right across the board when you think about Patty Rose who ended up being the Frosty-Miller Medallist. You look at guys like Jake Edwards who have been in AFL environments before and Malcolm Lynch was another one. Terrific stalwarts like Cory McGrath and Ryan McMahon who have played probably about 350 VFL games between the two of them.
“What we have been able to do though; those players have exited out with a minimum fuss and have actually been replaced with very keen and enthusiastic young guys.”
Ayres believes his side will require a collaborative effort from both his experience and youth to be successful.
“I think that is what has been exciting for me as coach that these guys have certainly been able to contribute to a level that has made them become established players in the absence of those other guys.
“Those are the guys that we need to step up if we are hopefully going to be as good as we want to be on Sunday. The older ones are the experienced ones but I think the enthusiasm and exuberance comes from new players and I’m sure they will be a bit nervous but with the guidance and encouragement of our older players hopefully we will get the job done.”
The Borough approaches this deciding match feeling comfortable with their groundwork.
“I think our preparation has been really good. We obviously had a extremely tough game against Geelong a couple of weeks ago which is probably what I would have thought most people would say was one of the best VFL games they have seen in a long long time. So we are right where we want to be. If you had asked me 12 months ago where would you like to be after winning the flag, then we would be wanting to get into another Grand Final.”
However, Port Melbourne are under no illusion that this match will be a one sided encounter.
“We have identified that Geelong are a super talented team. When we played them a couple of weeks ago, they had 18 AFL listed players and they beat us down there at Kardinia Park earlier in the year in pretty heavy conditions.
“It will be some of the best two hours of your football life here on Sunday,” Ayres said.
The Geelong Cats enter their first Grand Final since 2007, where they defeated the Coburg Tigers. Their resurrection appears to work in a five year cycle, with a Premiership in 2002 and now the opportunity to grasp another this Sunday.
Despite the Cats AFL side not making their way through the finals series, Coach Matthew Knights does not feel any extra pressure with all eyes on his VFL team, he has instead taken it on as a challenge.
“It’s important for us to play well and we have a responsibility to play well in the finals.
“Some of our young players have really watched the Senior team go about their business the last few years and watched them do inspirational and exciting things. With the Seniors not in, it is important for the young blokes to now carry that load a little bit and give the Geelong Football Club and Geelong community something to work for and cheer for in the last few weeks.”
Knights’ feels that his side has grown in recent weeks and with the settling of their playing group, will be stronger because of their journey.
“Going out in the first week against Port was an amazing game of footy; it ebbed and flowed and the intensity was fantastic. So we have had to kind of go the long way. The game against Port was spiritually fairly big as we have had to come back and win the next two games.
“So that’s why I am pleased with the playing group as they have had to reapply themselves after the Port loss.
“It’s never a dull moment coaching this team being three or four down against Box Hill in the last few minutes and the other day we were three or four up so they give you a little bit of a rollercoaster, but they are an exciting group to coach.”
It is no secret that this match will be decided between a battle of the backlines, with both sides boasting a solid wall of defence.
“You have the two best defensive teams playing in the comp against one another. I think Port were ranked one and we were ranked two in team defence. That’s one thing I’m sure that the two teams are pretty proud of, which probably bows for a really tight game on the weekend.”
Knights’ has learnt a lot from the teams encounter in the first week of finals and will not underestimate any area of Port Melbourne’s line-up.
“We learnt that you are going to have to play four quarters to beat Port as they are not going to give you the football game. Their strength is right across the ground, they have unheralded players. You just have to look at some of their defenders such as Sandilands and Gale and guys like that which probably don’t get the kudos that the real top players in their team do that are obviously winning the ball all the time in the midfield. They have got some really handy players in different parts of the ground and we obviously respect that as well,” Knights said.
This contest will showcase the future of the Peter Jackson VFL competition, where two diverse Club models can both succeed in their own right.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23, ETIHAD STADIUM
2:15PM
PORT MELBOURNE VS GEELONG
ENTRY:
Adults: $20
Concession: $15
Kids 15 & Under: Free
Etihad Car Parking: $25
Last Modified on 21/09/2012 17:22