By Rob Popplestone
In football, as in most sports, you can have all the skill, ability, fitness, game plans, camaraderie and support in the world, but you still need luck.
As round five of the Mid Gippsland Football League approaches, Hill End’s luck is being well and truly tested.
Hill End v MDU
Hill End has been decimated by injuries in the opening four weeks of the season and those players impacted have been first choice selections.
The talk at the Rovers has even included coach Mike Santo putting on the boots again, not that’s necessarily a bad thing. But it does highlight how bad luck can force a hand you would rather not play.
MDU will be well aware of the Rover’s reputation of a very good side. But the one mistake they could make is to believe the test is too tough before they even arrive at the ground.
Many games are won or lost before a ball is bounced, and the Demons need to have their mindset on believing they can win, rather than making a good fist of competing.
A small lack of concentration or a minor easing of pressure at any time can cost a team dearly against Hill End, and that’s the exact problem MDU has had in recent times, small periods of a match when opposition sides can take advantage.
Expect Hill End, even with a side short of its best, to look for that opportunity.
Thorpdale v Tarwin
It was a massive disappointment to Thorpdale last week when it fell short to Boolarra and couldn’t get its first premiership points of the season.
Coach Ray Pickering would have thought the Blues were a genuine chance given their lead up competitive form against some of the better teams in the competition.
The loss was a sobering one for the coach and his Blues players, and verification that unless you come to play, you will wish you didn’t after just a couple of hours.
Now back on their home deck and with a week to deal with how things went wrong, there will be no excuses for Thorpdale to dish up a similar effort.
The problem for the Blues is that Tarwin will see this as a chance to secure its second win of the season and, in doing so, put themselves back into the frame of serious conversation.
There are no easy wins and nowhere for either side to hide if things don’t go their way this week.
Mirboo North v Fish Creek
There were pre-season whispers Fish Creek had been quietly going about their business securing the “right” players to bolster their squad for a tilt at the crown in the newly formed and now much stronger league.
The six former Alberton league clubs have certainly lifted the quality of the league, even beyond that of recent years, and Fish Creek is playing a major part in that.
The Kangaroos demolition of Morwell East last week was vindication the first three wins against “traditional” opposition was far greater form than many expected.
Another test comes this week, when Fish Creek clash with Mirboo North on the Tigers home deck. The ground, as many would know, is somewhat “unique” in the competition and when taken to by a very good side, like Mirboo North, the task of winning is a big one.
Injuries have caused the Tigers concerns in recent weeks, but somehow they have managed to be in front when the final siren has sounded. In fact, a fortnight ago they even managed to win when they were behind as the final siren sounded.
The point is the Mirboo North side is a competitive beast and, as good as that is, they will also need the class to maintain its winning streak and stop that of Fish Creek.
Morwell East v Stony Creek
There is an old sporting saying that “you’re only ever as good as your last game”. For both Morwell East and Stony Creek, that should be enough to send a shudder down the back of every player from both clubs.
There have been some worrying signs at the Hawks for weeks, the most obvious being their slow starts. But even that has been masked by manufacturing wins, both from mental toughness and astute coaching.
For Stony Creek, a win in whatever form would gladly be taken. The Lions have shown patches of what they capable of in each of their first three matches. But in this new competition, patches of good football are not good enough to win matches.
It won’t be any easier for Stony Creek when they travel to the home of the Hawks coming off a disappointing performance last week.
There has been some “shadow boxing” between clubs as sides familiarise themselves against new opposition, but now is the time to deliver some knock-out punches.
Newborough v Boolarra
There is no question Newborough will want what Boolarra recently got - four premiership points.
The Bulldogs have been good for patches against better teams than they face this week. However, they will also need to find something greater than they have shown, and for longer periods of time.
Newborough’s depth will be tested after losing another couple of players, but the return to their home ground and the belief “that we can actually win this game” should see a hard-fought clash.
Boolarra’s first win last week came after clashes with two of the league’s best. But now they have the chance to string two wins together, be well placed on the league ladder and with a positive mindset. Three in a row would be possible the following week against MDU.
What they cannot do is get ahead of themselves like I just did and be thinking any further than the Bulldogs.
Yinnar v Foster
Foster has quickly shaken off an opening round loss to Hill End and bounced back with a vengeance, easily accounting for Tarwin and making light work of Newborough.
I expect Yinnar might be somewhat of a bigger hurdle for the menacing Tigers, but given this is a Magpies home game, I won’t be writing the home side off too quickly.
Yinnar could be seen as unlucky not to have beaten Mirboo North a fortnight ago, when a goal after the siren by another team of Tigers broke hearts.
To Yinnar’s credit, it bounced with a decisive win over Stony Creek, the victory pleasing the coach and putting the side into the right frame of mind for the massive task of Foster.
Talented Foster has utilised its depth of youngsters to record successive wins. Those wins, however, might not have been against the quality of side they meet this week.
This round five match looms as a defining one for these two clubs. A win puts them in the top six mix, but a loss puts them in the middle of the ladder with a bit of work to do.
Bye – Toora.
