A SPATE of injuries has opened the door for Koondrook-Barham ahead of their must-win match against Cohuna Saturday afternoon.
The Kangas will go into the encounter without several key players, with Cohuna coach Jack Geary (concussion) and ruckman Chris Anderson (broken hand) set to join Joel Helman (calf), William Lee (back), Brenton Conforti (hamstring), Daniel Coates (hamstring) and Corbin Anderson (elbow) on the sidelines.
While Helman, Lee and Conforti could potentially return if they pass overnight fitness tests, it’s highly unlikely all three will take their place in the team.
“We’ll be a bit undermanned but I’m hoping a few guys step up and grab the opportunity with both hands,” the Cohuna coach told The Guardian this week.
“As disappointing as it is to have guys out injured, it gives us as a coaching group a chance to have a look at other players and play them in more serious roles and it gives them an opportunity to impress and press their claims for a more permanent spot and role in the team.
“Our 15th to 22nd players will become pretty important guys for us this weekend and they’ll get their opportunity to impress.
“We have some pretty talented kids like Hudson Fountain, Noah Hore, Lachie English and Travis Ford and they’re dying to get more game time and now they’re going to get that opportunity.
“We plan to put a bit more responsibility on their heads and see if they handle it.”
While Geary’s ball use will be a big loss across half back for Cohuna, it will be the absence of Anderson that will hurt the most having been one of the Kangas best players across the first half of the season.
One area of concern stemming from Cohuna’s 61-point loss to Woorinen last Saturday was their inability to stop the Tigers mobile forward line without Lee and Conforti in their line-up.
That challenge won’t get any easier on Saturday with Kye Attwell finding form last weekend with six goals in the Raiders 57-point win over Balranald, while fellow key forward Ryan Bassett is also set to return from Bendigo Pioneers duties.
Also returning will be Harry Bremner, with Jack Shannon (knee) and Ethan Reeves set to join key onballer Benji Neal on the injured list for the Raiders.
It’s in Koondrook-Barham’s forward half where Raiders coach Marcus Demaria hopes his team will have the edge, providing his midfield can limit the impact of Cohuna’s engine room.
“I think we can get enough supply to our forwards then maybe we can cause a bit of havoc,” Demaria said.
“At times we’ve looked pretty dangerous down there with Kye Attwell hitting some form, (Matt) Bilton, Roy George when he’s down there as well and Pat Goble has been quite damaging at times as well.
“If we can get enough supply then I think we’ll be in the game but if we don’t get that supply, then obviously those guys can’t really have an impact for us.
“It hurts not having Benji (Neal) in the middle, but we still have plenty of decent midfielders like Roy George, Lee Dale, (Isaac) Corvo might go through there and (Harry) Bremner as well.
“The other thing is if we’re not winning it at the contest, then it’s about our midfielders being able to apply enough pressure to impact their players.”
Although the Raiders have plenty of ball winning ability in the middle, they will still need to contend with Tom Toma, Ricky Monti, Sam McGlone and Jackson Williams, who are all capable of changing a game off their own boot.
Toma was unstoppable in the second half last week as he tried single handily to drag the Kangas back into the contest, with Geary confident his star midfield combination, led by Toma, can get the job done on Saturday.
“I think it will come down to whoever wins the midfield like it does most weeks,” Geary said.
“We still have plenty of class in there and while we might be without ‘Ando’ (Anderson), we still have plenty of other options that can give us a contest like Sam Leitch, Tyson Farrant and Brodie Fry.
“They will all go through there at times and should hopefully be able to compete with Barrington.
“In terms of where we need to improve from the weekend, our defensive pressure when they’re moving the ball forward and kicking inside 50 is one key area.
“According to our stats we competed pretty well and the result on the stats sheet says we probably should have lost by a goal or two and not 10.
“It was really just the ease with which they moved the ball inside 50 in that first quarter and our turnovers in certain positions that hurt us and regardless of who the opposition is, that’s the sort of stuff we want to iron out.”
Cohuna will need to work harder on transition than they did against the Tigers and even though Koondrook-Barham don’t have the same damaging ball carriers that Woorinen possess, they have enough class with the likes of George, Dale, Bilton and Jack Thomas to hurt the Kangas.
If Cohuna can rectify that issue and hit some of their smaller lead up targets in their forward 50 then they should get the job done.
But if they don’t, then an upset could be on the cards – and with a growing injury list, that’s the direction I’m leaning.
Tip – Koondrook-Barham to win by two points.
KEY MATCH-UP
Tom Toma v Roy George
Both Toma and George are expected to split their time between the midfield and forward lines on Saturday, with the two classy onballers crucial to their teams chances of victory.
While their ability to find and use the ball bursting from the contest is almost unmatched, it’s their ability to hit the scoreboard that is sets them apart from the other midfielders, with George kicking two goals in each of his two matches for the Raiders and Toma kicking 19 goals for the season so far.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Who replaces Chris Anderson in the ruck for Cohuna?
One of Tyson Farrant, Sam Leitch or Brodie Fry – or perhaps a combination of all three, according to Cohuna coach Jack Geary.
In reality, none will be able to replace Anderson who has quickly developed into one of, if not the leagues most dominant big men.
Leitch has performed as the Kangas number one ruck in the past and would possibly be the most suited to the role, but has seemingly settled in nicely into the Kangas defence and with Kye Attwell finding form again, may be needed to hold down the fort in defence.
Fry could also be required to do similar in attack after last Saturday, which leaves Farrant as the man most likely to start in the middle.
