Round Previews – August 27th weekend 2022

History is littered with brave warriors that refuse to surrender their territory without a fight…and reigning-champion Phillip Island will need to stave off the biggest uprising in West Gippsland football when the Bulldogs collide head-on with Tooradin-Dalmore on Saturday.

The two teams lock horns in the second semi-final at Inverloch – with a grand final place up for grabs – with the back-to-back premiers of 2018/19 taking on the minor premier of this year.

And with all due respect to Cora Lynn who lost to the Bulldogs by four points in the 2019 grand final – this appears to be the biggest threat yet to the Bulldogs recent reign of supremacy.

Beau Vernon and his team will need to channel the traits of some of the great warriors in history to make it three premierships on the trot.

Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar and William Wallace (and David Noble) all fought the bravest of battles…Are the Doggies up for the ultimate challenge this year?

These two met at the same stage in 2019 – in the Seagulls inaugural year in the WGFNC – with the Bulldogs prevailing by 24 points in a huge first-step towards two flags on the trot.

The Seagulls would bow out at the preliminary final stage…being trounced by Cora Lynn by 50 points.

Then of course we missed the last two years – with Covid giving us all a good smack around the ears.

It’s fair to say the Gulls look a completely different unit to the 2019 model.

Joining the likes of loyal locals, Adam Galea, Jordy Kelly, Julian Suarez and Matt Livermore, is a cast of identifiable stars that have transformed the Gulls into an absolute force.

Brent Macaffer and Adam Oxley bring proven AFL quality to the list, while Piva Wright and Blake Grewar are elite performers at this level of the game.

Stewie Scanlon, Brad Butler, Brady Egan and Jimmy Trezise have brought skill and firepower to the front half, while Stevie Robb, Liam Adams, Dylan Paarlberg and Cooper Shipp have added elements missing from seasons gone by.

The bottom six at the Gulls is a lot more powerful than three years ago!

The Gulls put that extended fire-power and consistency to good use when they first confronted the Bulldogs in round nine this year.

A 74-point flogging broke the Bulldogs eight-game winning streak…and caught everyone a little off guard.

“It was clearly one of the better performances that I’ve been involved with in my time at the club…it was great,” said Tooradin coach Lachie Gillespie at the time.

“And it’s such a great win because of the quality of the opposition…they’re a quality football team and have been for many years.

“The boys were really impressive around the contest and we won our own footy, which is always good, and everything went our way from there.

“Phillip Island had its one bad day in probably 50-odd games and we had a good one…it was one of those days where everything goes your way.

“We’re a club that’s coming from some pretty hard times so I think we just enjoy it.”

Fast forward to round 16 – Saturday 30 July – and a different tale was told.

In a see-sawing affair, Phillip Island jumped out to a 32-point lead before the Gulls gradually clawed their way back into the contest.

It took three late goals, from Zach Wagner, Max Blake and Orland Kane Gillard to see the Bulldogs square the ledger with a thrilling 20-point victory.

“What’s the energy in the room like, this is what footy is all about, we’re getting towards the back end of the season and these are feelings we want to feel…in big games and standing up,” Bulldogs’ coach Beau Vernon said to his team after the game.

“Every single bloke today played their role, and the heat on the ball…it might be the best I’ve seen us ever play.

“The tackle pressure was fantastic and it was great to sit on the sidelines and watch you boys go about it.”

The Bulldogs had the hunger back at the Cowes Recreation Reserve that day, playing a high-pressure brand of football that the Seagulls struggled with at times.

Former Seagull, now Bulldog, Cam Brown hit his old mates with ferocity, while star performers Jason Tomada, Cam Pedersen, Eli Richards, Jack Taylor, Zak Vernon and Max Blake resembled a rejuvenated group of stars that needed that earlier Seagulls touch up to stoke the fire in the belly.

The Bulldogs won the Battle of Cowes, but just like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar and William Wallace (but not David Noble this time) the Seagulls live to fight another day.

They were exposed for the first and only time this season in the first 40 minutes against the Doggies, but somehow found a way to claw their way back into the contest.

That mid second-quarter fightback – when all looked lost – was super impressive to witness close up!

Phillip Island is a brave warrior – a superb and respected football club – but it’s the Seagulls to invade their territory – and win the first ticket to the big dance – with a fighting four-point victory.

It will propel the Gulls to their first grand final since 1999 and give them the chance to break a 25-year drought that extends all the way back to 1997.

But the bigger battle…as Alexander, Genghis, Julius and William will tell you…is certainly not done with yet!

Match review via Pakenham Gazette, written by David Nagel.

A perennial powerhouse challenged by an emerging force in West Gippsland football – it will have a familiar tone to it when Cora Lynn and Warragul Industrials collide in the first semi-final at Cora Lynn on Sunday.

Much like Phillip Island will try and stave off the advances of Tooradin-Dalmore in the second semi-final – 24 hours earlier – the clash between the Cobras and Dusties sees a proven performer at this level trying to fend off a challenger.

Only 20 finals have been played since the 2017 re-emergence of West Gippsland football – and the Cobras have played in 11 of them!

It’s just what they do!

The Dusties were similarly strong in their former home in the Ellinbank league – playing in 17 finals in nine years – before getting a rude awakening in their first season in West Gippsland in 2019.

A two-win, 16-loss record proved to the Dusties that tasting the delicious nectar of finals would be a difficult task to achieve.

But fast forward just 30 games of football and the Dusties have already tasted the nectar, courtesy of a ripe picking of Inverloch-Kongwak last week.

And you get feeling it’s the beginning of a steady progression through the ranks.

“I feel like we’re growing every week as a club, we’re still building connections, but for me one of the really exciting parts of coming to a club like Dusties was to try and build something sustainable moving forward,” said senior coach Harmit Singh.

“Some teams climb then fall away but to already have 80 to 90 percent of our list locked away for next year speaks volumes for where we’re at.

“We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

The speed of that journey intensified last week with the Dusties dodging some early Inverloch bullets before playing the better footy after quarter time.

Matt Herbert, Luke Walker and key defender Wil McGillivray were superb under fire down back, while Kyle Beveridge, Kane Oldham, Shane Brewster and Will Gibson clawed and scrapped for every possession through the midfield.

The Dusties looked invested, committed and connected in all aspects of their game and will provide a great challenge for the Cobras this week.

“We lost by nine points to Cora Lynn at home, so we have confidence that our best footy stacks up, it’s just a matter of doing it for longer against the better teams and that’s what we did against Inverloch,” Singh said.

“The competition is getting stronger and stronger, and will continue to do so.

“We’ve come in as underdogs but there’s a strong belief within the group that we can achieve something special.”

One thing is assured for Singh and his

Dusties…if they don’t find a way to stop Cora Lynn spearhead Nathan Gardiner then their season will be over in a hurry.

Gardiner has been on fire in recent times with his stunning eight-goal spectacular against Nar Nar Goon last week taking his tally to 41 goals from his last five games.

That included a seven-goal haul against the Dusties in round 18 in a grinding nine-point win.

“He’s done this at VFL level, he’s done it at Frankston, he’s done it at Casey in finals, he’s done it at Cranbourne when I was playing with him,” Cora Lynn coach Shaun Sparks said shortly after last week’s performance.

“I know what I’m going to get from him because if he’s not kicking goals, he’s making a contest and bringing others into the game.”

Gardiner currently sits on 86 goals and the century is now in sight.

The Cobras have won both games against the Dusties this season and produced a season-high standard of football when they disposed of the Goon last week.

The Cobra DNA was clear for all to see with Gardiner kicking goals, Billy Thomas producing a masterclass of tap-work in the ruck, and Jaxon Briggs delivering a clinic in lightning-quick gut running.

And Tim Payne stopped Goon dangerman Dermott Yawney from hitting the scoreboard in a royal command performance.

And his words before the game….they were simply inspiring!

“He (Payne) is the epitome of leadership to me and the best example of what a Cobra football player looks like,” Sparks said.

“I know I can take a step back before games because he speaks so well.

“The guys look up to Timmy and he gets them up and going, week in, week out.”

Sparks knows the challenge will be immense on the weekend.

“We respect the Dusties 100 percent and if our two games are anything to go by it’s going to be a great game of football,” he said.

“Our first encounter against them was a highly contested game of footy and we got away from them late, and then we jumped them in round 18 and held on there.

“We were a man down, and it was good to see our structures hold up defensively, but we’ve got a big challenge ahead, there’s no doubt about that.

“They have some good players, the Tex (Luke) Walker’s, the (Anthony) Bruhn’s, the (Jackson) Mockett’s, these sorts of guys, so we’ve got a bit of planning to do before next week.”

The Dusties have been sensational this year, but we’ll go for the Cobras to progress to the preliminary final with an uncompromising 13-point win.

Match review via Pakenham Gazette, written by David Nagel.