SWAN Hill will have their destiny in their own hands when they host Balranald at the Swan Hill Rec. Reserve tomorrow.
A win would lift them above NNW United into fifth on the ladder and into next Sunday’s elimination final.
That will be no mean feat against Balranald, who despite having lost their past two matches, still effortlessly disposed of the Swans by 34 points back in round 7.
The margin would have been greater that day if not for Balranald’s inaccuracy in front of goal, with Swan Hill coach Cal Beasy expecting his team to put forward a better showing the second time around.
“We’re confident in the way we’ve been playing lately, although Balranald are a harder opposition obviously,” Beasy said.
“We don’t have a lot to lose tomorrow, nobody expects us to win so we can go in as the underdogs and give it our best crack.
“We didn’t play very well last time we played them and they had a few players out that will be back this week, so it will potentially be a bit tougher.
“But in saying that, I think we’re playing a bit more consistent than we were when we last played each other as well.”
For Balranald, the challenge lies in staying motivated and focused on their task at hand, with their finals’ future having been decided for several weeks.
While the Roos will be taking no risks with injured players tomorrow, senior coach Jydon Neagle is still expecting his side to showcase their best footy and use their run and spread.
“We’re fully committed to Swan Hill this week, whatever side we pick and whoever we take there, we’ll be expecting to win,” Neagle said.
“We have a couple of niggles, so selection will depend on Thursday night, but we won’t play anyone that’s not 100 per cent.
“We know that Swan Hill will be cracking in hard because they’ll want to be playing finals, but we’ll be playing to win, too.
“We feel like we’re in good form despite having lost our last two, but we know we’ll have to bring our A game this week.”
Whether Jordan Wilkins or Nathan Ablett survive Thursday selection will be unknown until game day, but with both ruckmen out injured in recent weeks, Balranald have been somewhat nullified out of the middle in recent weeks.
Lake Boga’s Jacob Simpson and Kerang’s Nick Lang have controlled the play around the stoppages in the past fortnight despite the presence of the Roos’ high-quality onballers Ethan Gant, Matthew Neagle and Kobe Lloyd, and with Toby Thoolen waiting for them tomorrow, it could well be a case of déjà vu.
The Swans will be without Brandon Houlihan, who injured his ankle in last Saturday’s 27-point win over Tyntynder.
Houlihan’s absence will only increase the Swans’ reliance on key onballers Matthew Wade, Jose Miliado and Luke Phelan, with Beasy conceding his Swans midfield will need to be at their best if they are to compete with Balranald.
“They (Balranald) run hard off half back and set up well behind the ball, that was evident the first time we played them,” Beasy said.
“They pride themselves on their contested game, so we know we’re going to have to be accountable throughout the day on both their outside runners and also hold our own in the contest.”
From a Balranald perspective, stopping the dangerous Wade is one of the keys to stopping to Swans, with the dual Jack Betts Medallist in imposing form in the second half of the season.
“We’ll go head-to-head with him (Wade) to start with,” Neagle said.
“We’ll back our midfielders in, but if he starts getting out of hand then we’ll definitely make some changes because he’s such a dominant player for them.
“Our run and spread I think will be the key for us, the Swan Hill Rec. is such a big ground and we’re pretty fit and have the legs, so we’ll be looking to move the ball quick and get it forward.
“Having Ben Fuller back helps to give us a target up forward, along with Jarryd Stead, who we’ve shifted forward in the last couple of weeks and has been giving us a good contest as well.”
With Zach Mihocek back in the side and in form, having kicked seven goals against the Dogs last Saturday, Swan Hill certainly have the top end talent to cause an upset tomorrow, but whether they have the depth and class to run with Roos all afternoon may well prove to be their biggest concern.
Tip – Balranald to win by 14 points.
