KERANG and Nyah-Nyah West United will leave no stone unturned in their quest to join Balranald in next Saturday’s grand final, when the two clubs meet in tomorrow’s preliminary final.
The Blues will bring star midfielder Bradlee Pay (hamstring) and key position forward Adam Hunter (concussion) back into their line-up, while attacking half back Jaydyn Stirling is also a chance to resume for NNW United after missing the past month with injury.
The big watch is on Demon defender Joel Walsh, who was clearly hampered by his injured hamstring late in United’s 31-point win over Woorinen last Sunday.
Walsh has been a critical component of the Demons’ defence this year, with his ability to intercept-mark and attack from half back one of the big factors in his team’s rise.
It will be a similar scenario for Kerang, with several players found wanting in last Saturday’s loss to Balranald, including Lachlan Ross, Sam Heavyside and Michael Dalrymple, who were all returning after long injury layoffs.
Kerang coach Troy Coates was expecting a much better performance from his experienced stars, especially with hot conditions predicted tomorrow.
“We had a few guys that were down on their usual output last week and they’ll be better for the run,” Coates said.
“It’s probably not a bad thing for us to be playing again this week, we just have to hope we get through now and don’t get any injuries.
“We were in the same position last year with a few guys that had played limited games and we had an extra run in the prelim final and it ended up helping us on grand final day.
“Rotations are going to be key, so we’ll make sure we don’t go in too top heavy, one thing we do well as a team is rotate heavily though.”
The Demons’ attacking brand of football helped them defeat Lake Boga and Woorinen in the finals series.
It was NNW United’s propensity to take the game on from the outset that allowed them to take commanding leads by quarter time in both games.
Kerang will be yet another step up in grade for United, but despite going in as underdogs, the Demons won’t be changing their methods, according to Corey Daniels.
“We’ll keep playing without fear, we haven’t really got anything to lose at the moment,” the Demons coach said.
“We’ll put a little bit of work into them (Kerang) and try and restrict them from doing what they do, but playing our way has got us this far, there’s no point changing it now.
“It was a good tussle with them last time and I’d expect the same again.
“They’ll (Kerang) know what to expect a bit more from us now and try and slow the game down I’m sure, they’ve been the benchmark for a number of years now, and to have the opportunity to play off against them in a prelim is something we’re really excited for.”
The last time the teams met resulted in a one-point win to Kerang, after the Demons stormed home with five last-quarter goals to almost overrun the Blues.
While Kerang were without Marty Kelly and Dalrymple that afternoon, NNW United were missing gamebreaker Jarrod Stokes, who looms as a crucial piece of the Demons midfield tomorrow.
It’s in the midfield where the game will be decided, with Ryan Gillingham, Josh Nitschke and Rylee Smith all potential match winners, along with Marty Kelly, Josh Hann and Heavyside.
While NNW United’s small forward line has proved difficult to quell in recent weeks, it’s their speed of ball movement that Coates will be hoping to nullify.
“Last time we played, they caught us out the back a number of times,” Coates said.
“It was a good reality check for us, we were front runners that day. It was a good eye opener for some of our onballers and they’ll need to play more defensive, even our backs will need to play from behind a little bit more as they got caught out playing in front a bit too much.
“Speed is their asset, but, both teams play a similar brand of footy. They (NNW United) are a hard team to defend against because they don’t rely on one or two players, they have a very even spread across the board, it’s not like if you shut this player down then you’ll win, they have a very even squad.”
While the Demons have the game style to trouble Kerang, whether they have the run left in the legs after two bruising finals may be their biggest test – that and the Blues’ finals experience.
Tip – Kerang to win by 12 points.
