WHILE the focus off the field will be on celebrating 120 years of the Lalbert/Mallee Eagles football netball club, on the field it will be all about securing the four points for Eagles co-coach Harry Allen.
The Eagles (third) are just two points ahead of Woorinen (fifth) in one of the closest Central Murray seasons in recent memory.
Winning five of their past six games, the Eagles have turned their season around after their slow start, the only blemish in that time being a draw against Kerang.
But as good as they have been, Allen knew that would count for little against the Tigers, who will be hungry after their colours were lowered by Tooleybuc-Manangatang last weekend.
“There’s plenty riding on Saturday for both teams,” Allen told The Guardian this week.
“From a Woorinen side of things they would have been disappointed to lose last week and they will want to bounce back like all good sides do, and we expect that every time we play them.
“From our side, it’s clearly a big occasion for the wider community and the club, and we can’t wait.
“It’ll be a big crowd there to celebrate not only the club, but hopefully a win as well.
“It’s a big occasion and there’s certainly a lot riding on it, so we need to make sure we get the job done and hopefully solidify a top three spot coming into the bye, but there’s a lot to play out before that.”
The occasion isn’t lost on Woorinen coach Marcus Demaria either, with his team facing a tough run home and not only needing to bank as many wins as they can, but also find form – and fast.
“We’re at opposite ends of the scale to (the Mallee Eagles) I suppose, they’ve hit some form and taken some momentum throughout the season and we’ve sort of lost our momentum,” Demaria said.
“We were playing some pretty good footy, but then on the weekend we were completely outclassed, full credit to them (Tooleybuc-Manangatang), but we were very poor.
“We had quite a few players that took the opportunity to go away over the break and in many respects, I felt we were still in holiday mode.
“We need to work on a plan B. We’ve implemented a game style that we think will work for us, but it’s a game of footy and not everything goes your way all of the time.”
The Eagles will lose Jacob O’Meara from the team that defeated Koondrook-Barham by 22 points last Saturday, but should add defenders Zac O’Meara and Matthew Despott, while Beau Bennett is also a chance to resume from injury pending an overnight fitness test.
Woorinen will also have a vastly different look, with Brock McLean, Tom Langford and Clayton McCartney all set to return.
With rain forecast, the midfield battle and getting first hands on the ball will prove vital to the outcome of the match, with the Eagles’ ability to win the contested ball set to make them early favourites.
“We’ll back ourselves in to compete in the middle against them and I think that will be a key area of the game,” Allen said.
“They have some very good midfielders, like Jye Barry, who I think is one of the league’s most underrated onballers, but I think our maturity and bigger bodies will be an advantage for us.
“They will want to play a quick game and get the ball on the outside, and if we can’t contain that then I think that will give them an edge, but the last couple of months we’ve been holding up pretty well in that area and I’m sure we can hold our own again.”
For Demaria and the Tigers, it will be the Eagles’ inside game that will have their focus narrowed, with two players in particular set for close attention.
“It’s going to be wet and if you look at their midfield, two of their guys that have a big impact are Harry Allen and (Brent) Macleod,” Demaria said.
“They are both very good at absorbing the tackle and the pressure, so even though you tackle them, they still stand upright and still dispose of it pretty well.
“We’ll be playing those guys some close attention, along with their forwards like (Darcy) Hourigan, (Andrew) Mead-Harding and (Paul) Davis.”
If the wet weather comes, then the blue and gold army can expect an extra reason to celebrate on Saturday evening, but if not, it could well be a lot closer than they Lalbert fans might like.
Tip – Mallee Eagles to win by five points.
KEY MATCH-UP
Joe Halloran v Lachlan Gardner
THE Mallee Eagles key defender has almost become the No.1 stopper in the league and will surely be looking to take another scalp in the underrated Gardner.
When Gardner plays well, so too do the Tigers, with his six-goal haul against Balranald the perfect example, but without their key forward contesting in the air, Woorinen can become a bit stagnant in attack.
If Halloran can shut Gardner out of the game and dominate the aerial battle, it will go a long way towards the home side claiming the four points.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Have the Tigers been worked out?
MARCUS Demaria said this week that his side needed to work on a plan B, with Tooleybuc-Manangatang clearly doing their homework and outplaying the Tigers last Saturday.
The Saints worked hard at maintaining possession and not kicking the ball down the line to Woorinen’s well organised back six, while also taking away the Tigers’ run off half-back and their ability to attack out of their defensive half.
So is that the blueprint to take down the Tigers? Or do the Eagles back in their own system that relies on winning the contested ball and getting first use of it around the stoppages?
Only time will tell – but one thing is for certain, Demaria will be doing everything possible to ensure lightning doesn’t strike twice in seven days.
