REIGNING club best and fairest Joel Walsh is expected to return for Nyah-Nyah West United for Saturday’s qualifying final against the Mallee Eagles at Lake Boga.
Having missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, the key defender’s return will be a welcome boost for the Demons, who after starting the season with six straight wins have limped into the finals with one win since Walsh’s injury.
“We’ve definitely missed him and missed pairing him up with ‘Stirlo’ (Jaydyn Stirling) as well,” NNW United coach Jason Murphy told the Gannawarra Times in the lead-up to Saturday’s qualifying final.
“Having those two intercepting and running off half-back is where a lot of our game comes from, to get them back together will be really important for us.”
NNW United were one of the stories of last year’s finals series, going on a rampaging run all the way through to the preliminary final before hitting a brick wall against eventual premiers Kerang.
“Having dealt with the excitement of playing finals for the first time in a few years last year, we’ve been a bit more calculated in the way we’ve approached it over the last month this time around,” Murphy said.
“We’ve taken the approach of getting a lot of blokes right over the past month.
“It was a bit frenzied the way we first qualified for the finals last year and then played through them, but this time we’re heading into a final where there is some expectation around us, so the pressure is there but we’re confident that we’re up for the challenge having prepared over the last month to hit it at full speed.”
While Walsh’s return is sure to be a positive for NNW United, the same can’t be said for the Eagles and Jayden Post, who will miss having suffered his own hamstring strain last Saturday against Lake Boga.
Post will be the only forced omission for the Mallee team, with Jai Middleton, Matthew Despott and Nathan Bisset all expected to return.
The Eagles’ big strength is their ability to win the contested ball.
Co-coach Harry Allen was also aware of the need to keep the ball in close to make it difficult for NNW United to enact their own running game plan.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to win the contested ball every game and for us it’s about wearing teams down in the middle,” Allen said.
“With a couple of guys back, we feel we can challenge their depth, they have players that can win the ball too, but we want to be able to challenge them to compete with us for the whole four quarters.
“It will be interesting because finals footy is often built around pressure and winning contested footy, so we won’t be taking a backward step in that area.
“We know that if they are on around the contest and we give them that space, then we’ll be in a bit of trouble and we’re pretty conscious of that.”
Allen and Brent Macleod will hold the keys for the Eagles midfield, with both coaches able to accumulate big numbers and help their team transition the ball forward from the stoppage.
Murphy was aware of the threat the pair posed, along with the large contingent of Eagles inside midfielders.
“(Mallee Eagles) are really good at gaining territory off the back of the stoppage,” Murphy said.
“We’ll be putting a lot of work into making sure we get our fair share of inside ball and gain territory on them to try and hurt them on transition.
“That’s the plan and I guess at this time of year, everyone has had a pretty good look at each other, and we know what they’re going to bring, and they know what we’re going to bring, it’s just about being able to execute on the day.”
With the head-to-head record standing at one win apiece this season, there is very little separating the two clubs.
NNW United recorded a 54-point win in round 4, before the Mallee Eagles reversed the result with a 13-point win in round 15.
The difference on both occasions was the impact of Brandyn Grenfell, the Demons spearhead dominating with seven goals in the first match, then being well held by Joe Halloran in their latest encounter.
“We’ve been working on the best way to use Brandyn (Grenfell) all season and we’re getting there,” Murphy said.
“There were some signs last weekend where we were kicking it to him a lot better, but we need to make sure that we’re hitting up targets inside 50 that pop up if teams are starting to sag off in front of him.
“We’re getting there and finding a nice blend, ‘Brando’ (Grenfell) is really important to us and he’s performed at a high level in finals before, and we’re hoping to see him do then same for us on Saturday.”
Tip – Mallee Eagles to win by seven points.
