St Joseph’s players are riding a wave of momentum as they approach this week’s elimination final against Leopold after winning their last six games of the GFL home and away season.
The side’s belief will be bolstered even further by last week’s victory at home over league leader St Mary’s.
Joeys trailed by 28 points at quarter time to the visitors, but clawed their way back into the game to snatch the win by two points.
St Joseph’s coach Paul Carson, who is stepping down from the position after the 2022 finals series, said he was pleased his side could take the dramatic win in his last home and away match with the club.
“I’m super proud of the boys’ efforts,” he said.
“We were really challenged, particularly early on in the game, St Mary’s jumped out of the blocks. And to the boys’ credit they applied themselves, we tweaked a couple of positional things, and fortunately enough we got ourselves back in the game.
“From there on it was only ever a ten-point game all the way through, and we managed to run them down in the end, so it was fantastic.”
Carson said the win was a valuable momentum-builder heading into finals but that he had warned his players against underestimating Leopold.
“There’s no doubt we take a lot of confidence from the weekend, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just turn up this week and get the win over Leopold,” he said.
“They’ve got a really good side on paper, a really strong midfield and some key targets up forward. For us it’ll be about making sure we can match them in those areas and win that contested footy.”
Forwards Lewis Antonac will rejoin the side after missing the St Mary’s game with a dental procedure and Carson hopes Callum Mitchell will also return after two weeks off with a shoulder injury.
Carson said this year’s finals series promised some exciting and unpredictable results, with Newtown & Chilwell, Leopold and St Joseph’s all finishing the season on 13-5, just one game behind second-placed Colac.
“On any given day there are five teams there that think they’re a real sniff on their day,” he said.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to come down to having a healthy list and form, essentially who can pull it together on the day and take their opportunities.
“There’s not much separating the top five this year, which makes it exciting.”
