WOORINEN will go into Saturday’s home match against Balranald knowing anything less than victory will most likely end their season prematurely.
With the Tigers sitting a game and percentage behind fifth placed Cohuna, the equation has become very simple for the perennial finalists, who could join the Kangas on seven wins providing Cohuna don’t produce a shock win against reigning premiers Swan Hill.
Securing that all-important win will be easier said than done for Woorinen, who have lost their last three games by an average margin of 17 goals against Kerang, Lake Boga and Swan Hill.
While a win is vital for the Tigers, it’s also crucial for the Roos, who are in a battle of their own against the Mallee Eagles, albeit for third spot and the vital double chance.
Although they find themselves trailing by percentage only, a win on Saturday will be the only acceptable result for Balranald, according to co-coach Elli-Jane Pollard.
“It’s pretty simple for us, we have to win the last two and probably by a decent amount in order to help our percentage and make sure we finish third,” Pollard told The Guardian this week.
“That double chance is so important, especially this year with how even it is between all the top teams.
“We had a pretty solid win last time against them (Woorinen), everyone bonded together really well that day and it was one of the best games we’ve played this season.
“Since then we’ve had a lot of changes, but we’ve been focusing each on what we need to get through the games with the A reserve girls, which we’ve managed pretty well.”
Among those changes have been the losses of star goal attack and co-coach Jess Parry and wing attack Brie Galvin to knee injuries.
Parry was a key contributor that afternoon, along with Ella Mirtschin, who shot 33 of the Roos 53 goals in their 18-goal win over the Tigers.
The win was set up by a dominant first quarter performance, with Balranald outscoring the Tigers 17-6 in the opening 15 minutes, which will be a beginning that Woorinen will want to avoid repeating.
While Mirtschin, along with Bree Hodgson and Bonnie Jolliffe will take up much of the Tigers planning, it will be Woorinen’s bookends that will be the focus for Balranald co-coaches Pollard and Parry.
“Tessa Demaria is always a huge influence on their team and Willow Conlan was very strong in the goals last time we played them as well,” Pollard said.
“She (Conlan) was incredible and her strength was very impressive for a girl of her age and experience.
“Having had Tayla (Bennett) there for a lot of years, they (Woorinen) have always had a dominant shooter to go through and Amy Cadd is a great feeder of the ball into the ring so she’ll be a player we’ll have to try and nullify too.
“She (Cadd) is really strong at using her shooter and she tends to feed their goalies, that’s how they’ve set their team up and it can be tricky to close down at times.
“For us, we’ll have to move the ball quickly through the midcourt and get momentum going our way – that’s what saved us against Tyntynder.
“Chloe Taylor has been a huge inclusion for us in wing attack since we lost Brie (Galvin).
“She’s a great player and is able to adjust to anything that gets thrown at her all game.”
The midcourt battle between Jaimee Beasy and Bonnie Jolliffe will be one to watch, with both teams expected to throw everything at the other with the finals futures on the line.
Tip – Balranald to win by five goals.
