IT will be win or bust for Wandella, with the Bombers finals hopes now hinging on victory in Saturday’s final round match-up against Moulamein.
Wandella’s upset six-point win over Hay last Saturday has seen them drag themselves back into the finals race, but it will matter little if they can’t secure the four points over a resurgent Swans who themselves are looking every bit like premiership contenders in recent weeks.
The Bombers will also need the result of Murrabit’s match against Ultima to go their way, with the Blues still sitting above them in the battle for fourth spot.
The Swans are also set to regain the services of midfielder Will Doquile and full-forward Andrew Courtney in a major boost to their chances of victory, with Moulamein co-coach Brodie Tonkin treating Saturday’s match like a final, considering a loss could also leave them vulnerable from being the unlucky team to miss out.
“The boys have worked really hard to put ourselves in a good position to have a good crack at finals and I guess the message this week is that we want to prepare for this weekend as if it is a final as well,” Tonkin told The Guardian this week.
“We know they are going to be coming out extremely hard, because they have to win if they want to play finals, so we need to make sure we match them in that area and treat it as like a final and hopefully take care of it on the weekend
“They (Wandella) were obviously exceptional on the weekend against Hay and I had a bit of a look at their game, and their competitiveness in the contest was first class.
“Everyone knows how good Hay are with their midfield and with their contested work, so that will need to be an area for us to look at leading up to Saturday to hopefully try and combat their style of play.”
Wandella will also be forced into making a change to their line-up for the match, with young defender Seth Hall set to miss with concussion.
With their head-to-head record standing at one win apiece this season, Saturday’s match will be anyone’s game.
If Wandella are to keep their season alive however, they will need to find a way to stop Heath Moloney in the ruck, according to Bombers coach Justin Robinson.
“We need to stop Heath from winning every hit-out for a start, he’s such a dominant ruckman and if he’s giving his midfielders first use it will be pretty hard work for our boys,” Robinson said.
“Darcy (Ramage) will do his best to nullify him (Moloney) but then it will be up to our midfielders to be accountable at ground level.
“We’ve been working on making body contact at the the stoppages to start with so hopefully we can execute that and then go from there.
“Once it’s on the ground they have some very handy midfielders, including (Brodie) Tonkin and (Adam) Saunders.
“He (Saunders) did some damage to us last time and (Brett) Kennedy up forward kicked five on us last time too with young ‘Hally’ (Seth Hall) having the job on him last time too so we’ll need to find another match-up there as well.
“If we can play four quarters like we did last week, which we haven’t done a lot of this season, then I think we can get the job done.”
Although Kennedy looms as a key player for the Swans in their forward half, it will be the return of Courtney that could have a real impact to their forward structure, according to Tonkin.
“His (Courtney) presence takes a bit of pressure off Brett (Kennedy) and some of the other forwards who have done a really good job while Andrew has been out,” Tonkin said.
“Even last weekend we found that we were going a bit shallower with our forward 50 entries due to not having that key position target deeper.
“So he’ll be a really important addition hopefully to the team and allow some other players to play different roles and get back to their best footy.”
Although the Bombers will need to ensure they get the job done against Moulamein first, they will also keep a close eye on the happenings at Murrabit, with the result of the Blues game against reigning premiers Ultima also key to their finals hopes.
There is a chance of Wandella still qualifying, however, even without the four points, with just under 3 per cent currently separating the Bombers and Blues on the ladder.
That equates to a margin of around seven goals before the start of Saturday’s play, which could also become a key factor should both teams win.
The final match of the round will also be Macorna’s final match in the Golden Rivers Football Netball League, with the Tigers hosting ladder leaders Hay.
While the match would appear to be a David versus Goliath battle on paper, the Lions can expect a fired up Tigers outfit and a parochial home crowd, with Hay also getting an early look at the venue for this year’s grand final.
