BEYOND THE BOUNDARY – SEPTEMBER 2
Fresh off a bye that was coordinated with this week’s opponents, Bell Park coach James Saker believes his club can have an impact on this year’s GFNL finals series as it prepares for a third elimination final in as many years.
The Dragons’ opponents in the past two seasons – South Barwon in 2024 and St Mary’s last year – both cut a swathe through September to reach the grand final, with the Saints lifting the premiership cup.
It’s a feat Saker hopes Bell Park, which is without a finals win since the 2013 first semi-final, can replicate, starting with a victory over St Joseph’s at West Oval.
“Obviously we’ve got a massive game this week,” Saker told K rock Football’s Beyond the Boundary podcast.
“But the last three years, the teams in the elimination final have made their way through.
“So… who knows?”
Saker says there was method in approaching St Joseph’s to shift their final-round meeting to Round 11, where Bell Park had its Lara bye, and Joeys had the week off after pulling forward its meeting with Leopold to Easter Saturday.
“We got dealt a draw that I think would have given us eight games in a row, and then you need to win four finals in a row to win a flag,” Saker said.
“That’s pretty hard to do.
“All I looked at was how many in a row do we have to play at the front end and back end.
“And then I reached out to Ron (Watt). He thought it was a good idea.
“And it was we either get a rest before finals, or we get to finish our season early, and it was decided.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Saker also revealed a change of approach to training in the lead-up to the Sunday final compared to previous years.
“Having the bye allowed us to take a bit of stock, train a bit harder last week, train Saturday morning and then we’re doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday this week just to get more of that normal flow,” he said.
“We’ll train heavily tonight like a typical Tuesday and then Friday night’s Captain’s Run, dinner at the club, so it’s just a bit more familiar to our players.
“We can get our fans and supporters and volunteers down (to) the club and enjoy a Friday night meal.
“Our netball’s all involved. So, it’ll have a really good club feel about it Friday as opposed to the last few years, we’ve done the Saturday morning and um which has been fine but, uh, yeah change it up.”
Bell Park had the better of St Joseph’s in Round 11, winning by 44 points at Plan Group Oval, just four weeks after Joeys handed out a 68-point hiding in Round 7 at Hamlyn Park.
The Dragons will have a strong list to pick from.
Captain Lachie Patten returns after missing the Round 19 win over St Albans due to work commitments, while big man Ollie Bridgewater is back after suspension, and former Geelong VFL player Tyler Norton has also been included.
However, injury has ended the season of assistant coach Ben Lloyd, Geelong VFL-listed Zac Mirkovic, and Jack McMahon.
Kobe George is being managed by the Cats, who are into a preliminary final.
St Joseph’s will welcome back playing co-coach James Gow and premiership star Cal Mitchell.
Jack Mullen is also a chance to return from injury, with a final decision to be made after training on Saturday morning.
AT SELECTION – FINALS WEEK ONE
Newtown & Chilwell has named talented forward Dan Lowther for his first senior appearance with the club in Saturday’s qualifying final against South Barwon.
A Lara junior, and former Geelong Falcon, Lowther played five matches with Richmond’s VFL team before suffering an ankle injury.
Three appearances in the Eagles’ reserves have allowed him to qualify for the clash with the Swans.
Coach Steve Johnson has also included Braden Hocking, Blake Sutterby, Ben Pennisi and Jedd Coburn.
Jaxon Bruhn couldn’t be considered due to a calf issue, with Charlie Field, Archer Harkness, Gennaro Bove, and Round 20 debutant Bailey Bruce to feature in the reserves clash against St Mary’s.
Co-captain Luke Maddock, who has played just one senior match since mid-July, has also been named in the seconds.
The Swans have named Aaron Vickery for his first senior game in over 12 months as the replacement for Geordie Richardson.
South Barwon won both meetings between the clubs during the home-and-away season, including by 19 points in Round 19.
X: @krockfootball
