North Geelong booked their place in the Grand Final with a comprehensive 36-point victory over East Geelong.
The minor premiers quickly put the game on their terms with a blistering opening quarter, kicking eight goals to three. In stark contrast to their performance against the Panthers, they played with confidence and purpose, coach Darren Ryan was extremely pleased with how his side had bounced back.
“The start was absolutely perfect, the boys worked really hard, we knew East would come out physically, tough and hard and we had to match it with them and I thought we were really good in that area.” Ryan said.
“It’s really good to see that the boys turned up and put in the effort that they did ... I think the boys wanted to prove a point, not just to anyone, (but) to prove it to themselves.”
North Geelong’s tall forwards dominated the aerial contest with Sam Clark and Blake Miller ominous up forward, and were well supported by Toby Biggs, Kane Schwennesen and Blake Podnar. Gun midfielders Daniel Kee and Derek Fitzsimmons were influential along with Luke Parker and Braydee Watts -both instrumental from defence.
The Magpies now face Bell Post Hill in next week’s Grand Final. Having lost to the reigning premiers two weeks ago by 58 points, Ryan had full faith his side would be up for the challenge this time around on the biggest stage of the year.
“What we played against Bell Post Hill two weeks ago won’t happen again. We know we’ve got a lot of work, we know how good they (Bell Post Hill) are and it’s about us matching it with them.”
“It’s about staying in the game ... we’ll go to our game plan that we play, our boys believe in it and we play to it. We’ve just got to make sure at every stage we stick with Bell Post Hill.”
The only certain change for North Geelong will be the inclusion of Justin Diblasio, with Ryan looking to keep a stable line-up and employ a familiar week of training in the lead up to the defining clash.
“There will definitely be one forced change, He’s (Diblasio) definitely back in ... it’s just a matter of who’s the poor, unlucky fellow (to miss out).”
North Geelong wasted no time stamping their authority on the match with a scintillating opening term that saw them pile on 8.4 to 3.2. Biggs and Miller both prominent in attack with two majors apiece.
Fellow tall Sam Clark then chimed in with two early goals in the second for the Magpies as they continued to draw away from the Eagles. A tight end to the term saw the margin extend to 44 points at the main break.
The two clubs exchanged goals to begin the second half, but Clark’s third goal put to rest any hope of an unlikely turnaround, taking his sides lead out to a convincing 52 points mid-way through the third term. To East Geelong’s credit they fought out the remainder of the match, kicking six goals in the final quarter, despite the match being well and truly over.
Daniel Short
Last Modified on 11/09/2013 12:29