The premiership race is now down to four teams after Werribee Centrals was bundled out of the finals by a determined East Geelong outfit in a gutsy 29-point win in the elimination final on Sunday.
The Eagles wasted plenty of opportunities early, kicking eight behinds before Andrew Challis kicked their first major for the game.
By contrast, the Centurions made the most of their chances, kicking three goals straight to go into quarter time just two points down.
The trend continued throughout the game, with the Eagles – led by Murphy with 3.8 for the afternoon – kicking 12.21 (93) to the Centurion’s far more accurate 10.4 (64), but the steep differential in scoring shots was the important message to take away, according to East Geelong coach Tom Perrett.
“The fact that we had so many shots on goal is encouraging,” Perrett said.
“It means that our forwards worked hard, and our mids worked hard to provide us with those opportunities.”
There were no cheap goals for either side with players being made to earn any scoring shot they got under considerable pressure.
The Eagles were inspired by the unrelenting efforts of Ricky O’Toole all afternoon, drawing the admiration of both coaches after the game.
“Ricky was just awesome, he was really good,” Werribee Centrals coach Luke Phipps said.
“I thought he was best on today. That’s probably where we got beaten, just him getting so much of the ball, just dropping out and us not being prepared to work to get to him.”
His East Geelong counterpart Perrett pointed out O’Toole’s “smart” style of play and “clean hands”, both of which were vital while others on the ground struggled to get any fluency going under extreme pressure and in tricky winds.
While both teams played with plenty of heart, their skills were down considerably from recent weeks, but Phipps believed the skill errors were more than just a flash in the pan.
“I just don’t think we’re skilful teams, to be honest,” Phipps said.
“It’s just something that needs to be worked on big time. I don’t know East Geelong’s plans, but our skills were terrible.
“We need to work on our skills, that’s what cost us today. We were fit enough, worked hard enough, (we’d) done all the work that we needed to be able to win the final, but we just got beaten by a better team.”
Regardless of the disposal inefficiency, Phipps said he was proud of the entire team for not throwing in the towel even when nearly five goals down in the final term.
“The last quarter we finished with running,” Phipps said of the brave resistance.
“I said to the guys in there (the change rooms), I said I’m proud of every single one of them. How can you not be? In a final it’s easy to drop your head and to just give up.
“We did not give up at any stage of the game. We didn’t give up.”
East Geelong now faces the prospect of a do-or-die semi final against Bannockburn next Sunday, and while their efficiency by hand and foot must improve, Perrett believes the Eagles got their mindset right yesterday.
“The most encouraging thing is that the attitude and the effort – the two things we talk about all the time – they were there,” Perrett said.
“In a final, if you don’t have those, I don’t think you’ve got anything.”
The Eagles were without Simon Prymke and Luke Pople, both of whom are anticipated to return next week, left out for predominantly cautionary reasons on the weekend.
For the Centurions, Saturday’s loss marked the end of a number of long, respected careers, with former coach David Leatch, gun full forward Craig Rosenzweig and ever-reliable defender Shaun Simmons hanging up the boots.
Last Modified on 27/08/2012 08:22