THE Mallee Eagles will be “determined and hungry” Saturday afternoon according to co-coach Brent Macleod, with the blue and gold army still smarting after their loss to Woorinen last Saturday.
The Eagles will host the Cohuna Kangas in what looms as another significant test for the home side, with both clubs widely considered to be among the leading contenders for this year’s premiership.
Although the Eagles suffered their first hiccup last week, the Kangas are a team in form, having won all three games by margins of 178, 84 and 49 points.
Their win over reigning premiers NNW United last Saturday was their most impressive, with Cohuna’s ability to will the ball at the contest combined with their clean forward entries against a genuinely good side giving their supporters cause for optimism.
But while the Kangas may be in form, the Eagles will be keen to respond after a last Saturday’s lacklustre performance, with Macleod expecting a much-improved showing in Saturday’s must-win game.
“We won the last three quarters (against Woorinen) and the stats after quarter time were all in our favour, but we just couldn’t use the footy and it killed us,” Macleod told The Guardian this week.
“Credit to Woorinen, they turned the game into a dog fight and made us over possess the ball, forced us down the line and we just butchered the footy and turned it over.
“We could have gone into tomorrow sitting 4-0 and having not really learned much about ourselves, but now we’ll be determined and hungry.
“A lot of that has to do with our actions though, we can’t just talk about it, now we will find about about our character and the resolve within our group to adjust and get back to it.”
Making the home team’s task of returning to the winners’ list easier will be the inclusion of key forward Darcy Hourigan and full-back Joe Halloran, with the two key position players immediately strengthening the Eagles spine.
Cohuna on the other hand could be without onballer Jackson Williams, who will need to pass an overnight fitness test in order to take his place in the team.
While the potential absence of Williams will weaken the Kangas’ engine room, they still have plenty of class to cover his loss, with Tom Toma, Joel Helman, Ricky Monti and Jarrod Findlay all named among their better players against the Demons.
For Cohuna coach Jack Geary, the midfield is expected to be the key battle ground Saturday, with the Eagles’ inside ball winners expected to come under scrutiny from their opposition.
“It’s easy to say games are won and lost through the midfield and it will be a really good battle in there as we have some classy midfielders, but so do they,” Geary said.
“We don’t want it to turn into a midfield standoff.
“Yes, we want to win plenty of the ball, but we also want to defend their prime ball winners like Harry Allen, Brent Macleod, Darcy McGregor; we need to be accountable for them too.
“Forward 50 entries will be important as well because both teams have very good defences and we both springboard off half back really well.
“If we were to turn the ball over going inside forward 50 then they (Mallee Eagles) can hurt us going the other way, but it’s the same with us if they allow us to intercept mark or affect their inside 50s because that’s where we set up a lot of our attacks from also.
“We don’t want to be dump kicking the ball inside our forward 50, they have some classy intercept players and we want to try and keep it away from them in the air if we can help it.”
The Eagles won’t be intimidated by the match winners that Cohuna’s midfield possesses, with the home side having plenty of outside speed through the like of Matt Rankine, Beau Bennett and Isaiah Bull.
There is little doubt that Mallee’s big strength in the past has been their ability to win the contested ball, with Macleod keen to see his side get back to what they do best.
“I was satisfied, and satisfied is a pretty important word, because that’s not to say that I was thrilled with our contested work last week,” he said.
“I think we can improve in that area, but we have to make sure that we get our execution on the outside and our transition correct, because from what I’ve seen with Cohuna, they just cut opposition sides apart.
“Giving them opportunities to do just that with turnovers can’t be something that plays into the result of the game.
“I want to see our contest work improve now that we’ve had that kick in the teeth and I’m really looking forward to the resolve of the group being on show tomorrow.”
The big test for Cohuna is likely to come up forward, with their mobile forward line set to come up against one of the Central Murray’s leading defences.
Having conceded less than 50 points per game over the first four rounds, the Eagles’ back six is as solid as any, with Jayden Post, Tom McGregor, Zac O’Meara and Harry McGregor leading the way.
Tip – Mallee Eagles to win by three points.
KEY MATCH UP
Darcy Hourigan v William Lee
WITH Darcy Hourigan expected to return from injury, the Mallee Eagles’ forward line will be close to full strength Saturday afternoon.
There’s little doubt that Hourigan is a key piece of the puzzle for the Eagles, having kicked 72 goals last season and eight goals from just two games this campaign.
One of the few full-backs to have success against Hourigan last season was William Lee, in fact, the Kangas defender was the only player to keep Hourigan goalless last year.
That occurred in round 14 last season, with Cohuna defeating the Eagles by 79 points and Lee being named among his teams better players.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Do the Eagles attempt to tag one of Helman/Toma/Monti?
FIRSTLY, it’s impossible to tag all three, so if they do decide to lock down on one of Cohuna’s big three – then who?
Ricky Monti is all class, with his ball use at times impossible to stop, while Toma is equally damaging with ball in hand and is one of the most complete midfielders in the competition.
Then there’s Helman, who can not only take a team apart by winning the ball at the contest, but can then rip them open on the outside as well.
For mine, I can see the Eagles going head-to-head and backing in their on-ball brigade to get the job done on the inside and deny the Kangas first use of the ball around the stoppages.
