Doveton champion David George shows the grit that saw his team sound an ominous warning in a magnificent second half to come from behind and crush ROC at Robinson Reserve on Saturday. By Brad Kingsbury
MEMO to Casey Cardinia League premiership aspirants be afraid, be very afraid, because Doveton is coming to spoil your party.
That was the upshot of Saturday’s secondhalf intimidation of finalfive hopeful ROC that saw the Doves hit top gear and dismiss the Kangaroos’ challenge by 40 points.
It was not the margin or the quality of opponent that impressed, it was the Doves’ sheer class something that has never been doubted, but seldom emerged in 2006 as starkly as it did on the weekend.
And, even more ominous was that the form turnaround came after a firsthalf effort described by coach Stephen Henwood as gutless and weak.
“I gave them a blast at halftime and I don’t back away from any of it. The effort until then was not acceptable to anyone,” he said.
“I had a terrible feeling that a pressure had mounted in their minds and at halftime maybe they were happy to cruise through this year and be content with an effort, but not their best.
“That’s not how it works, certainly not under my coaching, and I needed to let them know that.”
The first quarter saw ROC open strongly, with its biggerbodied players, including Ben Waite, Craig Eagleton and Callum White, imposing themselves on each contest and looking as though the visitors were out to cause an upset.
Doveton’s forward thrusts were spasmodic and there were three points between the sides at the first change.
The second term belonged to the Kangaroos with Michael Barker creating drive from halfback and White becoming a good target in attack.
The Doves looked to be in second gear and often refused to chase, a trait that riled Henwood and his coaching assistants.
When ROC booted a sixpointer early in the third term to move ahead by more than four, Doveton supporters fell quiet, but suddenly the game changed.
Whether it was the halftime tirade, their opponent’s relaxation or simply a snap mental decision that it was time to perform, the Doves suddenly turned it on.
They ran, backed up, harassed and found the system that saw them toy with their opposition throughout last season.
It seemed to come so easily and 20 minutes and seven goals later, Doveton went into its threequartertime huddle with a 10point lead.
That was not enough and the final term became funtime for crowd pleasers including Ryan Hendy, Justin Hill, Peter Greenstreet and Matt Miller, who helped increase the margin by another 30 points, while keeping the Kangaroos goalless.
After the obligatory postmatch midfield gettogether the Doves walked off the field as a closeknit team with a familiar air of arrogance that would have had the alarm bells of forward scouts from rival clubs ringing loudly.
Henwood acknowledged his side’s win, but said that there had never been any doubt that the group was good enough to push for another premiership and they were the ones that had to realise that and do something about it.
“The fact is we’ve got the talent and the players to win it again. The other (clubs) know that and it’s up to us and always has been,” he said.
“If we all continue to work together, who knows what we can achieve?
“Let’s face it, they’re a pretty capable lot. Accountability is an often overused word, but you just have to be accountable when the opposition gets the ball. When you’ve got the skill that we have and are prepared to do the hard things, we can continue to play like we did in the second half.
“ROC came here to win and they went in hard at it as they should have. You have to expect that, not be surprised by it.”
ROC coach Hayden Stanton was devastated after the game, not so much by the result, but by the process and the realisation that his team was short of the best sides.
Stanton made a passionate plea to his players at threequarter time about their finals’ hopes being on the line, but the Kangaroos had already made the mistake of allowing Doveton to build momentum and that proved a fatal move.
He said that the Doves were the best in the competition at exploiting a lack of pressure and that was the case after halftime.
“It happened again,” he lamented. “We were not up to the challenge of seeing out a game that we were well in and it’s just a great disappointment.
“We didn’t react positively enough when they came at us and in the last quarter there was nothing.”
