THE Cohuna Kangas will go into this Saturday’s must-win game against the Mallee Eagles full of confidence following their comprehensive 147-point win over Balranald on the weekend.
It quickly became a case of deja vu for the Roos, who after scoring just two behinds against the Kangas in round 2 this season, managed just one goal from three scoring shots this time around.
The 23.17 (155) to 1.2 (8) victory sets up a mouth-watering clash this weekend between Cohuna and the Mallee Eagles, with the winner to remain in the hunt to finish on top of the ladder should Woorinen falter in the run home.
For Cohuna coach Jack Geary, this weekend presents more than just an opportunity to continue their winning form, with the Kangas also looking to make a statement against the Eagles.
“If we want to be a contender, we’ve got to contend with the teams above us and it’s no secret that we haven’t beaten a really big team yet,” Geary said.
“We’ve beaten everyone sort of around us and below us relatively comfortably, but we haven’t beaten a side above us yet.
“I think just for the belief of the group it would be great to get a result this weekend.
“Internally, we believe we can, but I think we’re just a result away from fully believing that we can mix it with the best.
“We’re in reasonable form so we don’t see why we can’t win, especially as they have to come to us and we get them on our home deck, but what we get this weekend is going to be nothing like what Balranald coughed up on Saturday.”
Eight unanswered goals in the first quarter saw the Kangas jump out to a 49-point lead at the first change, with the visitors putting the game to bed from then on.
Although Cohuna started strong, Geary was still critical of his team’s performance after the first change despite the final margin.
“When you win pretty comprehensively and more or less dominate four quarters, for me and I might be being a bit critical, it sort of felt like we dropped off through the middle quarters,” Geary said.
“I don’t think it was complacency, but I think we just naturally dropped away after we were up by so much at quarter time and the sting sort of went out of the game.
“We were just critical of continuing to play the style of footy we wanted.
“We spoke about having no egos, it doesn’t matter who’s kicking the goals as long as Cohuna is, we sort of felt that we were a little bit flat through the second two quarters, but we thought the last quarter was pretty impressive and we ran out the game.”
“I thought our conversion when we were unselfish and giving it to blokes in better positions, we looked really good and that showed in the first quarter with eight goals.
“I didn’t have a look at the score in the last quarter, but we just want to be giving it to blokes in better positions and making the most of our forward 50 entries and forward thrusts.
“They (Balranald) still have a really good defence and they’ll rebound off half back, but we just want to make sure if we’re having 20 inside 50s, we’re having 12 or 15 scoring shots and we’re not just blazing away and giving them the opportunity to sort of waltz it out again.”
The usual suspects were at the damaging best for Cohuna, with Joel Helman, Tom Toma and Ricky Monti all finding plenty of the ball through the midfield and up forward, while Chris Anderson also dominated in the ruck, as did William Lee across half back.
Ryan Middlebrook was one of Balranald’s better players, along with Tanner Coulthard, Roarke Smith and Yodok Soille.
Balranald co-coach Jack Salau was also among the Roos’ best, with the club’s leader pragmatic after the match.
“It was a tough day on the track but they (Cohuna) showed why they’re one of the top teams,” Salau said.
“They’re very well drilled, fit and relentless which gives us a clear look of where we need to improve to be competitive.
“A few injuries before and during the game didn’t help us but our three under 18s that played showed great signs for us going forward especially with them having already played a full game, so there’s still positive signs for the future to work with.”
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Balranald | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 8 |
| Cohuna Kangas | 8.1 | 12.5 | 16.9 | 23.17 | 155 |
VOTES
3 – Joel Helman (Cohuna)
2 – Tom Toma (Cohuna)
1 – Chris Anderson (Cohuna)
