At 2:10pm on Saturday afternoon, when the first ball is bounced and the cameras start rolling, the future of two Clubs finals campaigns will be in the hands of 46 young men. The Williamstown Seagulls and Bendigo Gold go to head to head in a do-or-die Elimination Final at North Port Oval.
Williamstown Football & Development Manager, Chris Dixon has belief in his side as they have proven their ability to perform in clutch situations.
“It’s important for us to just keep focusing on the task at hand and playing with the same intensity we’ve seen over the past weeks. In many ways our last six games have been do or die as we had to come from a fair way back to make the finals. Unfortunately we don’t have the benefit of a double chance so we have to make sure we’re switched on and ready to go from the first bounce.”
Round by round the Seagulls side has seen changes due to injuries incurred, however this has not altered the performance of the team with the Club stringing their last six wins together.
“We’d like to think we’ll have some stability and a similar side from last week but as with any aligned VFL side there’s always going to be changes. What’s been pleasing in the past few weeks is that the players who have come in from our Development side have come in and performed, with guys like Jack Frost, Jack Charleston, Shaun Wyatt and Nick Georgiadis impressing.”
Williamstown’s six consecutive wins were no small feat, beating the likes of Werribee, Port Melbourne, Sandringham and Geelong. However, in five of their six matches they have held an advantage over their opponents with the contests taking place at a muddy and windswept Burbank Oval. The Seagulls have perfected their game at the ground and opposition have found it hard to perform in the conditions. This aside, Williamstown’s last and most influential win was taken at Simonds Stadium against a fierce Geelong outfit.
This Elimination Final will be played on neutral ground, without benefiting any one side. Bendigo Coach Hayden Skipworth is confident it will be an even contest. None the less he knows that his team has tallied most of their wins on smaller grounds this season.
The combination of being without a true home ground and also competing in the Foxtel Cup over recent years has provided Williamstown with a bit of experience regarding this issue.
“I’d like to think that the travel we’ve done over the past two seasons has given the group a bit of resilience in terms of dealing with what’s in front of us. The players have been used to adapting to different conditions at different grounds so hopefully that can be an advantage. If we play like we did the last time we played a final at Port Melbourne we’ll certainly be happy.”
When questioned on their opponents strengths, Dixon highlighted the depth that Bendigo possesses across the team unit.
“Bendigo have got some quality VFL listed players with the likes of Matt Little, Ben Duscher, Rick Ladson, Justin Maddern and Trent Shinners who have a lot of experience at this level. On top of this they have some exciting Essendon listed kids such as Lachlan Dalgleish, Elliot Kavanagh and Jackson Merrett who have performed well throughout the year. Bendigo have been able to kick some big scores throughout the year so we’re certainly aware of their attacking threat,” Dixon said.
Bendigo Gold enter this elimination match knowing that they were fortunate to finish with a top eight spot after five consecutive losses towards the end of the season. However, an inspiring 19 point win over the Box Hill Hawks last week all but sealed the deal for them. Coach Hayden Skipworth has taken confidence from the match.
“I was impressed from the team’s performance on Friday night because it was a must win if we wanted to be certain to make finals. We also had nine changes from the weekend before and lost two players before halftime in Matt Little our leading goal kicker and Brendan Lee our best clearance player.
“We will have a big focus on everyone playing their role for team and getting off to a good start. We need a big four quarter effort from all of our players,” Skipworth said.
Bendigo will be fielding a similar line-up to Round 22 however they will be without the expertise of Merrett, Dell’Olio and Hille who have been selected by Essendon this week. The Gold will consequently see the influential return of key position player Scott Gumbleton who had played recent rounds in the AFL.
Elimination Final
Williamstown Seagulls vs Bendigo Gold
Saturday 1st September – 2:10pm
North Port Oval
Broadcast live on ABC TV from 2:00pm
Last Modified on 31/08/2012 16:39