DESPITE having a record of 0-4 against sides above it on the ladder, Greta is aiming to cause one or two surprises come finals.
First-year coach Daniel McLaughlin conceded a top four finish was unlikely after last weekend's loss to Milawa, but said the Blues were still looking to do some damage at the business end of the year.
"Top four has always been the aim, but that is probably a bit tougher now," McLaughlin said.
"We sat down and had our mid-year review and just set out what we want to achieve over the rest of the season.
"We can only control what's in our hands, and what happens to other sides is anyone's guess.
"But we're confident that on our day we can match it with those sides and cause an upset.
"It's still a fair way off, but we want to be in the mix in the second and third week of the finals and just take it from there."
One thing working in the Blues' favor is personnel.
While teams like Whorouly and Benalla have suffered near catastrophic injuries, the Blues have quietly welcomed back a couple of stars in recent weeks.
Brent Nichols has played the past three matches on the comeback from a knee reconstruction, while giant ruckman Brendan Van Schaik played his first senior match of the season last weekend, and McLaughlin is confident both can have a major impact in the second half of the year.
"Brent had a lot of preparation throughout the preseason and up to the time he returned," McLaughlin said.
"He was doing all the training it was just a matter of him feeling that he was ready to come back.
"He has slotted straight back in and been in our best players nearly every week.
"Brendan played a couple of reserves games just to get a bit of touch, but he almost turned the game when he went into the ruck in the first quarter last weekend.
"Milawa had kicked the first three goals, then he started giving us first use and we kicked the next two or three.
"I got a few perfect taps from him at the boundary throw ins, so that was great.
"He will only improve as he gets his fitness back, and he will also spend some time up forward and hopefully kick a few goals too."
While disappointed to have fallen short against the Demons, McLaughlin said the signs from the Blues were good, and he was particularly pleased with his defenders.
"We were much more in the game against Milawa than we were against Benalla (in round eight)," he said.
"Unfortunately Brad Bell came off in the second half and that ruined our forward structure.
"The game was won in the third quarter when Milawa just played better football.
"Apart from that I thought we matched them well, and our back six did a great job to keep them to 12 goals.
"It probably went unnoticed in the game report, but Chris Ziebell came back after a few weeks away and kept Daniel Lewis to one goal, which was an outstanding effort."
Coming up against Bonnie Doon at Greta tomorrow, McLaughlin said it was important the Blues sent a message to the opposition.
"Looking to the end of the year, it's probably going to be a team like Bonnie Doon that we end up meeting again," he said.
"We need to go out there and show them that we are the better side.
"It's hard to gauge what their form is like at the moment, but it was interesting to see that North Wangaratta beat them.
"But we'll just go out there and play them on their merits, and just make sure we're the ones dictating the play."
BY - SCOTT ANDERSON.
www.nenews.com.au
PUMPED: Greta coach Daniel McLaughlin will have the Blues fired up to produce their best football against Bonnie Doon. PHOTO: Scott Anderson
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Last Modified on 09/07/2011 10:15