As important as this weekend's round of MGFNL was, there remained the health of injured Thorpdale coach and star player Jason Winderlich as the first priority.
A neck injury suffered in round sixteen had the inspirational leader flown to Alfred hospital with surgery that night to his neck proceeding well.
One week later, Jason has indicated that the club and family will update when appropriate, as the prayers and well wishes from all clubs, players and supporters remain for his continued improvement..
On the field, two games in particular were crucial to the League's top six, not so much who, but how it would eventually unfold.
Foster v Fish Creek
The home team Tigers were well aware of what was on offer in their weekend clash with Fish Creek.
Foster, just a game behind the top of the table Kangaroos knew that a victory had them well placed to steal the number one spot at the last possible moment of the season, and therefore were ready to produce their very best against the reigning premiers., and their very best was good enough.!
Foster14-6-90 defeated Fish Creek 12-6-78
Sam Davies, Foster coach “Cracking day with a finals like feel and a finals like crowd. Momentum swings all day and we were good enough to absorb a lot of pressure then find a way to get the job done when they came hard late in the contest. It was nice to see the smiles on all our supporters' faces post game."
It was the perfect lead up game for both games, for Foster they now can believe, or at least they should that they are capable of going all the way, whilst for Fish Creek the loss, albeit disappointing, is better now than in a few weeks time come finals"
Jarrod Walker, Fish Creek coach “A great game of footy yesterday, lived up to expectations of a finals like intensity and feel. Momentum swings all day but credit to foster who were able to capitalise with goals when they got on top. A fair few positives for us to work with and a few things we can improve on as always."
There is never the perfect game of football, but there is your best game, and you always want that to be when it is most required, and ideally that is in the last game of the year, but not always.
These two powerful clubs have in part lifted the benchmark in the MGFNL to about as good a standard as it's been for a couple of decades, but their is also a handful more making ground quickly.
Morwell East v Newborough
Morwell East had set themselves a very simple goal on the weekend and that was not to lose two games in a row.
The Hawks were beaten in a thriller by Yinnar just seven days prior that had seen them drop from first to third on the ladder, and knew the importance of bringing winning form into the upcoming finals.
Winning form in this league is not easy and the Bulldogs were not going to make it so in round seventeen, the two time runners up of the competition signalling they are ready to start yet another assault on the last game of the year by breaking the heart of the Hawks in a thriller.
Newborough 12-9-81 to Morwell East 12-8-80.
Craig Skinner, Newborough coach “Saturday’s game was a great contest for four quarters, really proud of our boys, to be in front when the siren sounded. It has cemented a final berth for us. In a game like that it’s a shame someone has to lose."
Coach Skinner this week announced his retirement, at season's end, the Bulldogs deciding on current reserves coach, Patt Frendo as the senior leader come 2025, between then and now however, coach Skinner has some unfinished business to attend to.
At the Hawks, a couple of one kick losses, in the past fortnight, would have a couple of the players second guessing themselves, as they now look to reframe themselves with a win
Paul Henry, Morwell East coach “I don't even know what to say, heartbreaking, unbelievably tight game could've gone either way, Newborough got it done in the end. Thorpdale away this week to close out the year."
The Thorpdale clash, now looms as a perfect lead up to finals, as the Blues will offer up a tough, no nonsense finals like opposition that should have the Hawks ready to spring into bigger and better things.
Boolarra v Stony Creek
Boolarras last game of the season, given their bye next weekend, was planned to be somewhat of a celebration of a season, a year that didn't always unfold the way they would have liked, but nonetheless produced a handful of highlights from which to grow into something bigger and better in 2025.
However their clash against the Lions was never ever going to be a walk in the park, given their opponents had shown, albeit in patches, that they were capable of mixing it with the top end of town,and to that end the visitors got the job done,11-8-74 to Boolarra 10-7-67
Chris Verboon, Stony Creek coach “Boolarra got off to a great start. They won the midfield battle early by holding space,We adjusted things through the second quarter and managed to even up the game. We have struggled to close our games this year and that was the message at three quarter time. Can we stand up to the challenge? It was good to finally win a close game."
The win was a just reward for many results that have slipped through their fingers during the season, the Lions' next month could have looked quite different if not for those disappointments, but watching from the sidelines during the finals and understanding what might have been could be the catalyst for a better 2025.
Boolarra too, with a bye next week will likely finish the season third from bottom, but yet have shown they can match with many of the sides further up the ladder, the line between being a contender and not for the Demons has been very fine all year through.
Toora v Tarwin
Hosting Tarwin was possibly the easiest part of the week for the Magpies, with many of the Toora players still coming to terms with being on field and witnessing what was conceivably a life changing injury to respected opponent Jason Winderlich in round sixteen.
Players can be forgiven for second guessing, even reconsidering playing the game they love when confronted with a "freak" accident as they were or use it as inspiration for a way forward.
The Magpies secured possibly their most impressive win of the year, 17-14-116 to Tarwin 9-5-59.
Jack Weston, Toora coach “Enormously proud of the efforts of our players today. A complete performance which saw us respond each time Tarwin came at us and crack the game open late to kick away. Finally, four points to show for our work!"
The Magpies improvement from 2023 to 2024 has been noticeable, and the efforts of those players asked to play for more than just fun in the reserves has been appreciated by the club, they like their weekend opponents have been very solid all year.
Jason Kennedy, Tarwin coach “Saturdays game wasn’t the outcome that we hoped for, after coming off a great win last weekend With it being Toora’s last home game of the season, we knew that they would be up for the challenge and credit to them, they came ready to play. Unfortunately we didn’t."
The Sharks will now look to finish off the year with a win against bottom of the table Hill End, a positive result likely, but in no way guaranteed.
Hill End v MDU
Hill End's last home game of the year, was always going to attract what is a very strong, loyal and enthusiastic crowd, hopeful of seeing the Rovers produce some of their best football against a worthy opponent and finals contender in MDU.
However, the Demons are only a fortnight from being on the big stage and were also set on continued improvement, much of which was on show during the weekend with a comfortable seventy one point victory, MDU 17-10-112 to Hill End 6-5-41.
Nathan Allen, MDU coach “The weekend was another really good team performance again against a tough hard working Hill End. Was nice to see some sunshine and get our ball movement looking like we wanted it to. Next week we have a huge home game against the inform foster. Depending on the results, we could play them two weeks in a row so it’s a bit of a different one!"
That possibility is very real and both clubs are sure to be doing and have done some forward scouting to ready themselves, whilst at Hill End, just one more chance remains for victory, after they were never really in it at the weekend.
Ambu Uliando, Hill End coach “the boys had a crack on Saturday. Didn't stop trying til the final siren. MDU were too polished, their transition from defense to offense hurt us. Overall though proud of our effort."
There would not be one side in the competition that would question the efforts of Coach Uliando's led men, the Rovers are at best honest and aggressive, qualities all coaches are after.
BYE: Mirboo North, Thorpdale, Yinnar.
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