CaseyCardinia grand final preview

By Brad Kingsbury
DOVETON has one hurdle to get over to complete a historymaking perfect season in 2005 this weekend’s grand final.
All the talented Doves have to do is win one more game of football, this time against Narre Warren, and the 17year senior premiership drought will be over and the party can begin.
Simple, right?
Wrong! This match will be like no other the 21 Doveton players have played this season, this year or maybe even ever.
They will be unbackable favourites and how often have we seen that work to the detriment of sides in the one game of the year that counts?
On Saturday Nyora was in the same boat in the EDFL grand final and capitulated to Catani.
In MPNFL Nepean League, longshots Langwarrin turned around a 79point semifinal loss to topple redhot pops Frankston Bombers.
It happens regularly, but Doves’ coach Steve Henwood, who has been in the situation before during his successful stint at the helm in the 1980s, acknowledged the situation with simplicity.
“I’ve said it for two weeks, we won a game and were the first side into the grand final. Congratulations, that’s great, but that’s the end of it,” he smiled with a touch of wisdom.
“There’s no prize and now there’s another side, Narre Warren, in exactly the same position with exactly the same goal. I know it, the players know it and this Saturday it starts again.
“I have not detected any complacency at all.”
The makeup of the two teams is fairly predictable with the Magpies getting through Sunday’s game without incident and the Doves having a week off.
Narre Warren will likely bring back captain Luke Christopher, while Doveton’s only dilemma will be whether to play champion centre halfforward Ryan Brown or not, after an eightweek layoff with a groin injury.
“He’ll have to pass a fairly rigorous fitness test or he will not play,” said Henwood. “I’d love to see him there, but if there’s a chance he’ll break down then he won’t play.”
Henwood said that Brown’s commitment to the Doves at the end of last season had been the catalyst for the recruiting and the spark that had driven a positive attitude.
Doveton has stars across the ground and Henwood backed them to perform regardless of conditions.
“We’re confident we can play in any conditions. If it’s wet the only adjustment we need to make is to cut the handball down and get it on the boot quickly,” he said
Narre Warren’s last flag was in 1992 and the only surviving member of that team still playing is Brett Evans.
Coach Paul Hamilton and his assistants Stuart Stevenson and Darren Dwyer were also members of the successful ’92 side and Hamilton went onto the front foot after Sunday’s preliminaryfinal victory.
“We can’t let them have first use of the ball out of the centre and we won’t,” he said with resolution.
“We’re going in to win this. We’re not in a grand final to make up numbers.
“The first part of the week we will concentrate on ourselves and what we’re doing and then we’ll start setting up for Doveton. We’re the underdog, but there have been plenty of underdogs that have got up in this situation.”
The one thing that is missing at the Robinson Reserve this year is the Doveton cockiness so prevalent in years gone by and, given the season they’ve had, that is surprising.
Players like Matt Miller, Justin Hill, Danny Casset and Ryan Hendy have never been backwards in spruiking themselves and their team, but even they have let their actions do the talking this season.
The trick will be to keep that going for one more game the only one that matters.
Ability wise Doveton has Narre Warren covered and mentally this looks to be their best chance for a flag in nearly two decades.
In fact, I think the Doves can even carry me to win this one.