Finals Team Talk | The Courier | August 31, 2023
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to our finals edition of Thursday Night Team Talk.
00:03 I'm David Breo and I am joined as I have each week this season by Edward Holland.
00:08 G'day David, how are ya?
00:09 Not too bad.
00:10 Second week of finals in the Central Highlands and the first week of finals in the Ballarat
00:15 Football Netball League.
00:16 First of all, let's just take a quick glance at the BFNL and what's the go there before
00:24 we perhaps delve into it a little bit more detail in a moment.
00:27 Yeah so just quickly, Saturday's games, Spassport East Point at Eastern, Oval and Melton and
00:33 Daly in the qualifying final at the Manningley and on Sunday it's North Ballarat going head
00:37 to head with Reden and the other elimination finals.
00:39 So plenty of players looking forward to getting into it.
00:42 Yeah certainly, but let's first have a look at the Central Highlands Football League.
00:46 Second week of finals, semi-finals, we've lost a couple of sides already, we're down
00:51 to six.
00:52 And on Saturday, the first of the semi-finals, it will be Bungaree against Carnham Linton.
00:58 Bungaree of course finished the season in fourth position.
01:03 They had a loss last week against Springbank so they're now into a cutthroat situation.
01:11 For Carnham Linton, they're coming off a very impressive win against Newland in an elimination
01:17 final and they were up and about after that win.
01:20 It was fantastic for the Saints just to make finals this year.
01:25 They've come from absolutely nowhere as I've been saying almost every week, but to now
01:29 win a final and they have a real opportunity now to push deep into the finals.
01:37 And just highlighting what it means to the Saints, I caught up with Carnham Linton skipper
01:42 Wayne Bruty after their win over Newland.
01:46 Well what a few weeks it's been.
01:48 It's been massive for you, the birth of your first child, a daughter, and then today you've
01:53 gone out there and helped win a final for Carnham Linton.
01:56 Yeah, definitely a week to remember.
01:59 Yeah, first daughter, exciting times and then lucky enough it fell on a good week and still
02:04 get to play the finals game today.
02:06 Yeah, just sort of, it's going to take a little while to sink in.
02:09 Yeah, a lot of buzz around the rooms as you heard, singing a song, everyone was up and
02:14 about.
02:15 Yeah, good time in your life.
02:17 Look for any team, it's great to make finals and it's something special for the Saints
02:21 this year, but to win a final, that's just something else.
02:24 Yeah, we had goals at the start of the year to make finals and winning a few early games
02:31 really helped with that.
02:33 And then coming into the finals, we know finals footy is really tough, congested, tight, but
02:40 we've proved ourselves through the year that we can get over the line in those tight ones
02:43 just with the bit of run and the bit of grit.
02:46 Got a good balance of young kids and wise heads.
02:49 So we knew that any situation we get put in that we've proved during the season, that
02:53 yeah, we'll come up to the plate and play good footy, which we did today.
02:59 And that grit you mentioned, you needed that today because there were a few occasions,
03:02 you've led for most of the day, you've got breaks over the cats, but they just kept coming
03:07 at you.
03:08 Yeah, absolute credit.
03:09 They just kept coming.
03:10 We thought, yeah, we'll start steamrolling because we have fresh legs, we back ourselves,
03:15 but they just put the foot to the throttle and kicked a couple of good goals.
03:20 And then you look up and you think, gee whiz, we've got to really start to knuckle down
03:23 here.
03:25 And then yeah, we did.
03:26 You win it in the middle, you start kicking those goals.
03:28 We sort of missed a few early ones, which would have put a bit more scoreboard pressure
03:31 on, but we just didn't have that luxury towards the end of the game.
03:35 We started snagging a few more and then getting over the top.
03:38 The boys, they're just a real tight-knit group, a good mix of young and old and everyone's
03:42 just, yeah, there's no standouts.
03:43 Everyone's here just to have fun and play footy.
03:46 Look, I spoke to you after that opening round win, that thriller against Skipton, and at
03:51 that point it was all about that first win.
03:54 You talk about objectives early in the year about making finals, but it's one thing to
04:00 set a target, it's another thing to deliver.
04:04 So to actually be here now standing with a finals win under your belt, it's almost a
04:10 case of pinching yourself, sure.
04:11 Yeah, absolutely.
04:12 And I've had a massive distraction this week with the newborns, so I haven't really been
04:16 thinking too much about the footy, but then you get a bit of a, yeah, you remember about
04:20 it and then you're thinking, gee whiz, we've come this far, why not?
04:24 Why can't we just keep going all the way?
04:26 We've shown to mix it with the top sides, like early with Skipton, Springbank, we've
04:30 got to do it along with them boys, so why can't we do it in finals time when we get
04:35 a lot of hype and a lot of buzz?
04:36 The young fellas, they just, yeah, keep riding and keep loving it.
04:40 A big time for Broody, a big time for the Saints, and they're at the point now where
04:46 some people would say they've got nothing to lose because they've won a final, they've
04:50 made finals.
04:51 Well, they've got everything to lose now because when you get this far into a final series
04:55 and get this close to a grand final, yeah, you've just got to throw everything at it
05:00 because you have got a lot to lose, haven't you?
05:02 Yeah, big time.
05:03 It's good to see Wayne Broody there, I think you've spoken to him a few times on camera
05:07 this year, so he loves it.
05:08 I spoke to him after round one when they had that first win and beat Skipton, so I thought
05:13 it was appropriate to go back to him to have a chat about that victory.
05:18 Of course, he'd missed the previous week, as you heard in the video, because he took
05:24 the last round off for the birth of his first child, and I think he was probably relieved
05:31 in many ways, it didn't happen a week later.
05:33 But certainly, yeah, a really good result, and as you can see, Bob, what he was talking
05:39 about, what it means to the club.
05:41 On Sunday, the second of our semifinals in the Central Holland Football League, Heckburn,
05:45 which was beaten by Gordon, so in a qualifying final, they now have to do it the hard way.
05:51 They're up against Skipton, who had that, well, they defied the odds and got home in
05:58 the dying minutes in an absolute thriller against Dunstown in the elimination final.
06:03 So, yeah, Skipton, they reached the semis last year, so they've got that far again this
06:09 year.
06:10 Heckburn, they got to the preliminary final, so they've got a side with the quality good
06:14 enough to win a premiership, Heckburn, so the pressure's right on them to stay alive,
06:20 because I think if they fall over at this step, they're going to be really disappointed
06:24 with their season.
06:25 Most would love to reach the second week of finals, but for Heckburn to go out in straight
06:29 sets, that would be really bad.
06:31 For Skipton, well, yeah, they're lucky to still be there, but they are, and I think
06:37 they've done well to get this far.
06:39 They're still lacking that little bit of depth, I think, to become a premiership contender
06:43 in that sense.
06:44 So, those two games over this weekend, I think Carnum-Lington can get over Bungaree,
06:50 so they're probably the outsiders, but we'll go for the Saints, and I think Heckburn can
06:56 proceed and push on to a preliminary final.
06:59 So that's Central Highlands, but now a bit more detail on the BFNL.
07:03 Three games, first week of finals, can't wait.
07:06 Yeah, it's interesting, actually.
07:08 All sides in these match-ups, there's a 2-0 record in their head-to-head, so Sebastopol
07:14 is 2-0 against East Point, North's 2-0 against Redan, and Daly's actually 2-0 against Melton
07:19 this season.
07:20 So, three of those sides, we're hoping the ledger changes in the second season, final
07:26 season, so see how that all plays out.
07:28 But we'll start with Sebastopol's.
07:30 And of course, sorry, the elimination finals, both Ballarat derbies, if you like.
07:35 Yeah, so they're going to be some big days out at East Noble.
07:37 Should be some good crowds in attendance as well.
07:40 Yeah, so Sebastopol and East Point, the big story this week was playing co-coach Luke
07:46 Keogh with Broken Leg at Minutes Hospital on Saturday night.
07:50 So he will miss the rest of the final series, as expected.
07:53 And there was an injury cloud over Toby Hutt and James Keeble as well, but they've both
07:58 been named and expected to play on Saturday, so Keeble did turn out as just a corky.
08:04 And Toby Hutt, knee, was a concern, but he's all good to go now.
08:07 Do you reckon, sorry, they're likely to keep things guessing, because sometimes you can
08:11 have changes with finals, say, that don't name players that may play or that do play,
08:17 and then sometimes they will do the opposite, just to keep the other side guessing.
08:21 100 per cent, that's what's going to happen, especially with Sebastopol.
08:24 They've done that a few times to me this year with Wens Lockyer coming back and all of that.
08:29 So could have had four Lockyer back there.
08:31 Oh, good luck, Toby.
08:32 But that's footy.
08:33 A big watch for Eastbourne as well is a little injury cloud over Jordan Johnston.
08:38 So we'll see if he lines up on Saturday, but his brother Matt is all good to go.
08:44 He missed last week just with a shoulder complaint, but he was always locked in for Saturday's
08:49 elimination final.
08:50 But yeah, Eastbourne probably take a lot out of their last meeting with Sebastopol, which
08:55 was near full strength.
08:57 Sebastopol and the Brews actually stole the lead in the dying minutes, but Sebastopol
09:02 held on for a nine-point win.
09:03 So it's a different looking side, Sebastopol, probably not as strong as they were a few
09:08 weeks ago.
09:09 So they'll have that belief, the Brews, but I think Sebastopol third on the ladder for
09:14 a reason and I'll tip with them.
09:15 They've got really good depth in their favour as well.
09:17 Yeah, they'd be really disappointed if they went straight out, but those injuries are
09:20 going to make a big difference, there's no doubt about that.
09:23 Yeah, and so the only game at Eastern Oval on Sunday is North Ballarat and Redan.
09:28 So Ryan Hobbs and Simon McCartan back for the Roosters and it's probably both sides
09:33 of full strength.
09:34 So probably a bit of a shame that they both match up against each other, they'd want to
09:39 maybe go at a lesser team.
09:40 But Gary Leamont is saying it's the first time all season that he's had pretty much
09:45 an unchanged squad.
09:46 So that's the time of the year you want this, your full 22 playing.
09:51 But yes, and North Ballarat with two wins against Redan earlier in the season, they
09:55 had a come from behind win at Marlborough Stadium and then a blistering first quarter
09:59 set up a win at City Oval.
10:01 So yeah, North Ballarat for me in that one.
10:06 Any chance for Redan at all, do you think or not?
10:08 I think so, they have challenged North Ballarat, they led up until the third quarter in that
10:12 first match up and then it was just that first quarter that was a little bit of a blip and
10:17 it's pretty neck and neck from there on.
10:18 So they'll have the belief similar to East Point as well, but I'll still tip the Roosters
10:25 in.
10:26 Melton and Daly, I'd say Daly heads in favourites to that one despite finishing second.
10:30 But Melton, they have Lockie Watkins, Blake Suter and Brodie Sullivan back this week,
10:36 so three very handy inclusions.
10:38 No Lockie Walker, who's still dealing a little bit with a bit of a knee issue there, but
10:44 he should be good to go next week.
10:46 But yeah, Daly, the only side to defeat the reigning premiers this year, two in a record.
10:51 So I'll tip the Devils, but qualifying final, so Melton and Melton will both still be there
10:57 next week.
10:58 Because it wasn't that long ago it felt like it was Melton and the rest, didn't it?
11:01 Yeah, big time, big time.
11:03 Even that game earlier in the season, I think it was round eight, when Daly handed Melton
11:07 its first loss.
11:08 Melton were missing a few key players, so too were Daly, but it was hard to get a proper
11:12 read and then Daly had that little slump after that actually.
11:15 But yeah, I'd say now it's probably these two sides and then a bit of daylight.
11:22 Excellent.
11:23 All right.
11:24 So a lot to play out in the first week of finals for the Ballarat Football Netball League.
11:29 We'll be back over the weekend with a wrap of whatever the outcomes of all these games
11:34 are.
11:35 So from myself, David Breaux and Edward Holland, it's a very good evening.