THE Mallee Eagles will be out to atone for their 12-goal loss to Swan Hill earlier this season when the two teams lock horns again on Saturday.
Despite a see-sawing opening term, it was an onslaught of 18 goals to 11 in the second quarter that set up the win for the Swans in round 2, with the Eagles eventually going down 64-52 in a competitive and spirited contest.
Both clubs line up again with a lot more at stake, with Swan Hill a game clear on top of the ladder. The Mallee Eagles, on the other hand, are clinging to third position – and a qualifying final berth – on percentage only, with Lake Boga breathing down their necks in the battle for that prized double chance.
With so much at stake for both teams, a finals-like atmosphere is almost a given, with Swan Hill joint coach Madeleine Nalder telling The Guardian this week that her team were looking forward to the challenge of facing one of the in-form teams in the competition.
“I’m expecting it to be a really good hit-out for our girls and it’ll give us a good guide to see where we’re at now that we’re entering the second half of the season and all the teams are starting to hit their straps in the run towards finals,” Nalder said.
“It’ll be good to see where we’re at and see what we’re doing well and what we need to keep working on.”
While Swan Hill will take a level of confidence into tomorrow’s match having already beaten the Eagles this season, Nalder was still cautious in how she and her team will approach the match – especially with the way the Eagles attacked the game back in round 2.
“We played them in our first game earlier this season after we were scheduled to play Kerang in round 1, but it was a game where the final score didn’t really reflect how tight a contest it actually was,” Nalder said.
“There’ll be a few things that we can take from that game, like a few individual match-ups and the like, but the main thing for us is to just challenge ourselves and see where we need to improve heading into the business end of the season.”
One player who won’t be out there for the Swans is goal attack Ingrid Condely, with the dominant goaler set to be a big loss for the home side. Arlee Bennett is one who could fill the hole left by Condely, with the talented youngster having played there against Woorinen before the bye, with the Swan Hill brains trust set to leave the decision until the morning of the game before settling on a replacement.
While the Swans attacking half of the court will be some cause for concern, it’s the defence that’s front of mind for Nalder, with the Mallee Eagles goalers Kellie Walker and Emelia Shannahan both in sensational form so far this season.
“Kellie’s a massive target for them in the goal circle and she’s well supported by Emelia, so obviously we’re going to have to try and shut them down and try and negate their influence on the match,” Nalder said.
“That will need to be a bit of a team effort right across the court from everybody though in order to shut their supply down, which will ultimately come back to our pressure through the midcourt and the whole team just working well defensively to apply pressure when (the Eagles) have the ball.
“They have some really great players and it’ll take a whole team effort for us to get the job done.”
While most eyes will be on the Alan Garden Reserve courts and the outcome of the Swans-Eagles NAIDOC round feature game, it won’t be the only game of significance when it comes to finals implications for teams.
Second-placed Balranald will be hoping to keep the pressure on the top of the ladder Swans when they host a desperate Cohuna Kangas at Greenham Park. The Kangas (eighth) find themselves a win and percentage behind the Demons (fifth) and will need to put in a competitive showing against one of the best sides in the A Grade competition as they head into the second half of the season.
While Cohuna have made giant strides forward this season, Balranald will pose an entirely different challenge, as highlighted by the Roos’ 31-goal win over the Kangas in round 2 earlier this season.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang will be looking to keep the heat on NNW United when they host Tyntynder at Manangatang. While at first glance you would assume the Saints should get the job done based on the season so far, Tyntynder have shown in the past couple of weeks that they are a team on the rise and one that will certainly be no pushover in the last six rounds of the season.
The other game of round 12 will the fourth-placed Lake Boga taking on the winless Koondrook-Barham, with the Magpies needing a percentage-boosting win to keep the pressure on the top three teams – and perhaps even leapfrog the Eagles into that highly sought-after top-three finish.
