By RUSSELL BENNETT
NO matter how hard you try, some cliches are just impossible to ignore – a week really is a long time in football. But 14 days – that’s an eternity.
On a cold and wet Saturday on 16 March at Pakenham’s Toomuc Reserve, the Gippsland Power TAC Cup side made its Dandenong Stingrays opponents look like 15-year-olds.
It was the final pre-season hit-out for both sides before the season-proper got underway and the Power was stronger, faster and more ferocious at the contest, while it seemed the Stingrays had a long, brutal season ahead.
But last Saturday in Morwell, the Stingrays showed real fight.
They could have capitulated when down early. But they didn’t. They held strong – showing the spirit of a real contender and going down by less than four goals – 12.13 (85) to 8.14 (62). They may be poor in star-power, but they’re rich in mental toughness.
Gippsland started with a bang following the opening siren, racing to a two goal to nothing lead.
But the side couldn’t make the most of its opportunities – leading by just three points at the first break despite dominating possession.
“If you don’t want to play on an opponent, you won’t play!” coach Nick Stevens blasted in the quarter-time huddle.
“As a group, not one bloke sacrificed in that quarter.
“We’re lucky they didn’t kick straight because otherwise we’d be five goals down.”
The spray worked, lighting a fire under Garfield’s Eddie Morris, Warragul’s Tom Muir and Ellinbank’s Nate Paredes who all started to emerge as match-winners.
Silky midfielder Morris showed great composure in the engine-room throughout the clash, using the ball wisely from both sides of his body and never looking over-awed.
Paredes used his powerful body to great effect, bursting through packs and connecting well with ruckman Jake Thomas.
But it was Muir, at centre-half-back, who shone brightest. He finished the clash as the leading disposal-winner on the ground and proved a rock in a backline which was put under real pressure late in the first and early in the fourth quarters.
Stevens’s half-time address really summed up the state of play for the Power, which boasted a number of returning players from last year’s TAC Cup grand final side.
“Welcome to TAC Cup football,” he said.
“We’ve got to work harder, chase, tackle and do all the little things.
“We’ve gotten rid of the nerves and now we’re starting to play some good footy.
“But we can still lift our intensity across the board.”
The Stingrays kept coming in the second half, at times rattling the Gippsland brigade.
But the Power just found a way to win. It wasn’t pretty but it was a victory they’d be well served to remember. They might have to replicate it at the business end of the season.
“Round 1 is always the toughest contest of the year and I thought our boys grinded it out against a quality opposition,” Stevens said following the game.
“It was a real arm wrestle at times but we’re just really glad to come away with the win.
“You don’t normally play your best footy in Round 1 and sometimes it’s easy to forget that.”
Gippsland this week faces last year’s grand final nemesis, Oakleigh, from noon this Saturday at Morwell Football Ground.
