CENTRAL MURRAY FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
GRAND FINAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
SWAN HILL RECREATION RESERVE
2.40PM COHUNA KANGAS v KERANG
THE BURNING QUESTION
Can Kerang turn the tables on their Semi Final loss to Cohuna?
In short, absolutely. They only succumbed to the Kangas in the last quarter after wasting their opportunities to put the game to bed, kicking 4.13. The Kangas will be fresh and fully fit, but the Blues midfielders will also be better for having had the extra run. Kerang have been red-hot premiership favourites since Round 8 for a reason – and that’s because their best is very, very good.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Have played each other just twice this season, with the record standing at one win apiece. Kerang dominated their Round 8 encounter with a 66-point win earlier this season – however, the Kangas turned the tables on the Blues a fortnight ago in their Semi Final with a 21-point win sending them straight through to the grand final.
KEY MATCH-UP’S
Ben Archard v Troy Davis
Archard was instrumental in the Kangas winning the Second Semi Final and showed just how important he is to Cohuna’s chances. He won’t get things all his own way tomorrow however, with Davis returning for the Blues last week and returning in form, too.
Joel Helman v Marty Kelly
The midfield battle will likely decide the outcome of tomorrow’s match, with these two midfield bulls crucial to each club’s chances. Both Kelly and Helman love putting their head over the ball and have been consistently among their team’s better players this season.
Rhys Free v Michael Dalrymple
Dalrymple will most likely get the job of quelling the influential Free, who has been kept to just five goals from two games against the Blues this season. Will be worth the price of admission alone to watch the league’s best forward battle it out with league’s best defender on the biggest stage.
MATCH PREVIEW
Cohuna and Kerang will take their long-held rivalry to new levels tomorrow afternoon, when they battle it out to see who will be crowned premiers for season 2022.
In one of the most highly anticipated grand finals in recent memory, both clubs will go in full of confidence that this will be their year – with the Kangas having defeated Kerang in the Semi Final to move straight into the decider, and the Blues hitting their straps with an impressive 82-point defeat of Woorinen last Saturday.
Kerang were back to their imposing best in the Preliminary Final, with their clean disposal and fast ball movement back after being shut down by Cohuna the week prior. The big question is whether they can replicate that form again – or will the Kangas be able to halt their link-up run off half-back and through the midfield, like they did in the Semi Final?
Jake Hammond will be another key component to tomorrow’s match, with the intercepting defender having a huge impact for Cohuna since his arrival mid-season. Hammond was huge a fortnight ago and cut off many of the Blues’ forward 50 entries. How Kerang stop his impact will have a big bearing on the result, as they will need to find a way to bypass him in order to kick a winning score.
The other big watch from a Kangas’ perspective will be in the ruck, with Ben Archard and Christopher Anderson running amok a fortnight ago. The only difference this time around is they will have to face off against Troy Davis, who normally saves his best football for grand final day. Davis will pose a much tougher challenge than Samuel Nitschke – and how the Kangas adjust to that will have a big bearing on the result.
Kerang’s big strength is clearly their midfield, as it has been all season. The Blues’ depth and class through the centre is unmatched and is where they will be hoping to dominate the game on the smaller Swan Hill Rec. Reserve. The Kangas also have a potent midfield, with Joel Helman, Jarrod Findlay, Tyson Findlay and Oscar Cooke all capable of breaking a game open – but not the depth that Kerang possess, with Marty Kelly, Josh Nitschke, Ryan Gillingham, Sam Heavyside, Nicholas Stagg, Rylee Smith and Josh Hann all set to spend time in the middle.
While Cohuna may be a little light in the centre compared to the Blues, they more than make up for it with Tom Metherell, Daniel Paterson and the irrepressible Tom Toma providing run and drive from half back. Toma has taken his game to another level (if that’s possible) since his return following a lengthy hamstring injury, with his second half performance another key reason why the Kangas enjoyed the week off last weekend.
Kerang will need to keep Cohuna’s running defenders accountable, with much of that responsibility likely to fall to newly crowned Rookie of the Year Sean Hunter and seven-goal Preliminary Final hero Troy Coates. The Blues midfielders must go through them in order to force the likes of Metherell and Paterson to play with a tighter leg rope. The same can be said at the other end of the ground with Lachlan Ross and Jesse Clark both capable of hurting Cohuna across half back with their run and drive out of defence.
At the other end of the ground, it’s the twin towers of Rhys Free and Dylan Johnstone who pose the biggest threat. Michael Dalrymple will likely resume his battle with Free, but it’s who stands next to Johnstone that’s the challenge, with Brandon Hayes the most likely. The other option is Bryce Curnow, who played in defence last week against the Tigers and could definitely do the job – but will then leave the Blues light on up forward as a result.
In what is a genuine toss of the coin match, it’s almost impossible to pick a winner – with perhaps the weather the only factor likely to separate the two teams. If the heavens open up, as predicted, then that will favour Kerang, whose ability to run and carry the ball will be less affected than Cohuna’s short passing, uncontested mark style of play. But if the rain doesn’t come, then it could well be the fresh-legged Kangas who break their own drought. Tip – Cohuna Kangas to win by 1 point.
