WGLFL preliminary final preview

By Ken Moore
TRARALGON probably thought it was a certainty to make the preliminary final but little did the Maroons envisage playing Moe.
But this Saturday at Morwell the Maroons take on the redhot Lions, who have roared into genuine grand final contention after an inspirational month in which they transformed into a goalscoring machine.
Having not won a game since round eight against Drouin, Moe’s season was on the line in its round 15 clash with Morwell. Not only did Moe rise to the occasion in that match, it has carried the good form over ensuing weeks and has racked up five consecutive victories while scoring 17, 17, 22, 23 and 20 goals respectively.
The midseason arrival of former Newborough captaincoach Dean Caldow, also a seasoned SANFL player with Glenelg, has played a huge role in Moe’s revival. Caldow has scored 22 goals since arriving in round 11 and given his midfielders a great target.
With plenty of tough nuts in Rod Peaty, Adam Kennedy, Brad Atkinson and Phil Town surrounded by the pace of Chris Smogavec, Matt Dickason, Leigh Stevens and Gary Blandford, the Lions are flying and have found the right formula. The Lions will enter the game as the outsider but on current form must have a genuine chance. Momentum is a big thing and Moe, under its astute coach Lachlan Sim, has plenty of it at the moment.
Traralgon lost its second semifinal clash with Maffra but its performance was no disgrace. That might sound odd because the margin was 81 points, but the Maroons were within five goals early in the last term and seldom has any team been that close to Maffra in the last quarter this season.
Key forward and now leading goalkicker Paul McCulloch and classy centreman Tom McQualter also missed last week but on the positive side the Maroons will be desperate to win not only to play in the grand final but also because one of its favourite sons in Greg Morley will line up for his 300th game for the club.
Traralgon has a tremendous midfield and the battle between Morley, Michael Geary, Simpson against Rod Peaty, Matt Dickason, Chris Smogavec and Leigh Stevens should decide the match.
In the two homeandaway matches in round five and round 14, Traralgon won by 14 points and 33 points respectively but Moe is now a muchimproved outfit.
Traralgon struggled to put away Sale in the qualifying final, winning by only four points, yet Moe crushed the Magpies last week by 54 points and given this stunning effort and its top month of football, I’ll tip Moe’s fairytale winning run will continue with a place in the grand final.