WOORINEN and the Mallee Eagles will meet for the second time in 2022, with the reigning premiers hoping for a different result second time around.
Both clubs find themselves in vastly different situations, but both equally desperate for the four points.
The Eagles are clinging to top spot on the A Grade ladder in one of the closest seasons in recent memory and the Tigers (sixth) currently finding themselves just one win behind NNW United (fifth) and outside the top five.
While the Eagles are guaranteed of seeing finals action, the same can’t be said for Woorinen, with the Tigers’ season likely to come down to their round 18 match against the Demons on the back of having a tough run home. To make matters more complicated, Woorinen haven’t played since their 24-goal loss to Swan Hill in round 11 – some 28 days ago.
It’s with both aspects in mind that Woorinen coach Olivia Jones was quick to point out the importance of tomorrow’s match, when speaking with The Guardian earlier this week.
“It’s a massive game for us, especially coming off the three weeks we’ve had off now,” Jones said.
“We’ve had to focus on both keeping our fitness up, while also allowing our bodies to have a rest and freshen up. We gave everyone the first week off training to have a bit of a rest, but since then we’ve been back into our training pretty heavily.
“As for finals, it could well come down to whoever wins out of us an Nyah in the last round, so if we we’re able to pull an upset out tomorrow or between now and then, it would set us up pretty nicely in the run towards the end of the season.”
While a win for the home side would be an upset based on the first 13 rounds of the season, the Tigers aren’t without a chance – especially with experienced leaders Tessa Demaria, Jamiee Beasy and Jones all in their line-up, along with young guns Zoe Steicke and Ava Crow continuing to improve each week.
As for Jones, her focus – apart from being on what her own team can produce – will be on stopping a couple of the Mallee Eagles bookends.
“It’s always a tough tussle against them (the Mallee Eagles),” Jones said.
“Kellie (Walker) is an unstoppable force at times, so she will certainly be one of the players we need to try and negate – along with Meg Allen, who is always difficult to play on and controls their defensive end really well.
“But with that said, they are quite strong all across the court really.”
Perhaps the closest game for the weekend will be out at Nyah, where the Demons will be searching for their fifth win of the season against Lake Boga. The Demons were outclassed by the Mallee Eagles last weekend, going down by 68-48 to the ladder leaders.
There were still plenty of positive signs for the Demons to take from the game, with Laura Anderson’s team finishing the game off strongly in the difficult conditions after not playing for four weeks. NNW United will be better for the run and should give a good account of themselves against another premiership contender in Lake Boga, who themselves will be fresh off the bye last Saturday.
The challenge for the home side will be shutting down the Magpies strong mid-court, with Emma Peacock and coach Anna Archie always key players to their side’s chances of success.
The other game of considerable interest tomorrow will be at the Alan Garden Reserve, with arch-rivals Swan Hill to host Tyntynder. The last time they played was back on Queen’s Birthday weekend, with Swan Hill continuing on their winning ways, claiming a dominant 58-24 goal victory over their cross-town opponents.
Things have changed somewhat for the Doggies since that day, however, with Georgia Styles team going on to win two of their three games – including a shock one-goal victory over the Cohuna Kangas. While Tyntynder have improved on their early season form, they will need to take a massive leap forward in order to shock the competition and topple the Swans tomorrow, despite Swan Hill coming off their first loss of the season to the Mallee Eagles a fortnight ago prior to last Saturday’s bye.
With Madeleine Nalder leading their defence and young gun Arlee Bennett back starting at GA alongside Casey Frame, and a mid-court possessing the experienced combination of Kelsey McCoy, Zoe O’Sullivan and Karli McIntyre, expect Swan Hill to be too good.
The other game that is set to have major finals implications will be between Tooleybuc-Manangatang and Balranald, with it being a must-win game for both sides in much the same way as it is for Woorinen and the Mallee Eagles.
Much like the Tigers, the Saints also find themselves a win and percentage outside the top five and coming up against a more highly fancied opponent. Tooleybuc-Manangatang find themselves in an even more precarious position than Woorinen, however, with the Saints finishing the season against top four sides Swan Hill and Lake Boga, as well as having the bye.
For Balranald, the situation is just as simple – keep winning and they’ll finish top three and earn a double chance, lose, and they could face an elimination final.
The final game of round 14 will be at the Barham Recreation Reserve, where the Raiders will host the Cohuna Kangas in a last throw at the stumps for the Kangas. Cohuna also find themselves a win and percentage behind the fifth placed Demons, but a win – as expected – tomorrow could see them tighten that top five battle in the run home.
And with games against Swan Hill, NNW United and Woorinen still to come, a finals finish is far from out of the equation.
