By Callum Ludwig
The Wandin faithful will be getting behind their boys in red, white and blue again on the fateful day in September that is the Outer East Premier Division Grand Final.
They will once again tackle Narre Warren, the side they bested in last year’s decider, in the final Outer East game for the Magpies before they relocate to the Southern Football Netball League.
Wandin Senior Coach Nick Adam said they’re confident about the football they are producing at the moment, particularly after their strong preliminary final win over local rivals Woori Yallock.
“I think it’s been building over probably the last month, we are feeling good about who we are and what we are at the moment, both in attack and defence,” he said.
“When it’s Woori vs Wandin, that always adds a layer so it was exciting for the whole club to be able to get the job done and put ourselves back into a grand final.”
In more deja vu from last year’s finals campaign, it was again a strong Wandin win over Woori in a preliminary final that set them up for their 2023 premiership success.
This time around, with the preliminary final also having been held at the same venue as this and last year’s Grand Final, Officer’s Rob Porter Recreation Reserve, Adam said he feels like Wandin plays their best footy when there’s space to be played in.
“We’ve been pretty consistent in our messaging over the last five years that we need to recruit to be able to play our best footy on the bigger grounds in September though that sometimes can create challenges at Wandin and throughout the year in terms of the sides that we come up against and the contest that they’re able to create on the smaller grounds,” he said.
“I feel that Narre Warren are exactly the same, they’re a side that’s been built on playing this style of football for a long time and we’ve had to probably catch up to them over the last few years,”
“We had a focus on testing Woori Yallock defensively and making them defend the ground for long periods of time on Sunday and I felt we’ve got good outcomes at the back end of quarters off the back of that, Narre Warren is probably better built to be able to defend for longer in that space so that’ll be a challenge this weekend but we’ll have a plan in place.”
The Magpies have the best of the Dogs in their two meetings this year, recording a 38-point win in Round Three and a narrow 13-point win in Round 15 though it remains to be seen whether they will be haunted or motivated by their 63-point drubbing in last year’s Grand Final, despite having beaten Wandin by three points just two weeks prior.
Adam said whether or not they can disrupt Narre Warren’s exit party won’t be high on their to-do list, with the Dogs solely setting their sights on the possibility of bringing back-to-back flags to The Kennel.
“I don’t think that you need much more motivation than that, in terms of legacy at community clubs, I think that’s pretty special, there’s six to eight guys in my side that are shooting for their third flags for the club and one playing for his fourth that’s potentially playing for his fourth and would be standing alone at the top of the tree if that happens,” he said.
“I think grand finals have an edge to them, both sides are experienced at this time of year and have an understanding of what needs to be done in terms of focusing on the football that they need to produce,”
How you react when anything happens on the field can determine outcomes over the course of the day so we have a focus on being able to produce our best football this weekend and go into the game with clear intentions and a clear understanding of what that needs to look like.”
Leiwyn Jones was a standout in the preliminary final win over Woori Yallock with his efforts to nullify the league’s leading goalkicker Taylor Gibson and will have a big job on his hands again, likely to be Magpie sharpshooter Will Howe while key cogs of the Wandin brigade such as Chayce Black, Patty Brusseze, Aaron Mullett, Todd Garner, Chris Johnson and Harrison Van Duuren will also look to inspire their side.
As well as Jones, Adam sought to heap his praises on one of Wandin’s most consistent performers throughout the season and in the final series so far, Patrick Hodgett.
“Pat Hodgett’s been outstanding in his role at centre-half forward and I think it sometimes gets overlooked how often he gets beat, I think he kicked six in one of the finals, but he didn’t impact the scoreboard as much yesterday [against Woori Yallock], but it’s just his ability to bring it to the ground and impact the opposition’s intercept game,” he said.
“So much of modern football is built off turnover and the control that you get getting that whistle and the ball in your hand so our desire to get the ball to ground and allow our smalls to go to work is built off Pat’s work rate and his ability to not get beat, he’s been outstanding this September.”
Patrick Hodgett kicked three goals against Mt Evelyn and six against Olinda-Ferny Creek before a blank against the Tigers on top of his total of 24 goals for the year.
Adam said there’s no doubt in his mind that there’ll be lots of red, white and blue at Officer on the weekend.
“It is very clear to us that we represent the community, we have a really strong junior club and fantastic support from within the community, it becomes the epicentre of what the town is on a Saturday afternoon,” he said.
“People come to be part of something that’s bigger than the game and I’m really aware of my responsibility in representing the football club,”
“They’re a really proud and loud bunch so we’re excited to see them supporting us on Saturday.”
