Seniors — Kerang v Cohuna
A FIERCE rivalry will be reignited in the Central Murray Football Netball League second semi-final at Cohuna tomorrow.
Kerang and Cohuna have been the top two all year and will rightly play off for the first spot in the 2013 grand final.
For Kerang, ruckman Troy Kelm will be an important in while Cohuna’s Daniel Coates and Clayton Holmes are likely to miss again.
While the ground at Cohuna is perceived as an advantage to the Kangas against most sides, against Kerang the larger size of the ground could be just as helpful to the opposition.
The Blues have had a successful running game all year, and with Kelm returning to take on big ruckman Christian Bock the midfield battles will be more evenly matched.
The likes of Troy Coates and Luke Eldridge will be important at ground level for the Blues and the Kangas respectively, while both sides will have important players at either end.
For the Blues the task of stopping key forward Angus Grigg will be vital.
Grigg has kicked 69 goals in just nine games since joining the Kangas for the June 22 game against Mallee Eagles.
He has bettered his return of five that day in six of the eight games he has played since and is averaging more than seven goals a game.
The Blues have some quality defenders like Josh Bray, Jon Murphy and Tom Brownbridge who will all be conscious of Grigg to some extent.
Perhaps more importantly, Kerang’s midfield will look to prevent the Kangas getting good supply to the key forward.
Kangas coach Shannon Keam warned his players to look after themselves after last week’s draining game against Tyntynder.
“By the end of the game it’s pretty warm and you’re basically out on your legs,” he said.
“So far it’s so good, though… Everyone pulled up okay.”
Keam said he didn’t expect the ground to pose problems for Kerang.
“I don’t think it will hold any fears for Kerang. It suits them just as much as us. They’re a highly skilled team and like to run, so it’s no real disadvantage to them anyway,” he said.
Make no mistake, this is a heavyweight bout.
The ground itself won’t be a huge issue, but Cohuna has proven it has what it takes all year.
The Blues have only lost once to the Mallee Eagles — and the prospect of playing the Eagles at Lalbert in a preliminary final had they lost to the Kangas at Cohuna tomorrow is now out of the question, with the Lalbert club eliminated.
The Kangas went down first to the Blues in a tight game in atrocious conditions at Cohuna early in the season.
The next stumble was in round 16 against Tyntynder, a result the Kangas subsequently reversed at Balranald last week.
The Kangas will make everything of the home ground advantage that they can but Kerang’s break last week would have been invaluable.
TIP: Kerang by 11 points.
