By David Nagel
Warragul Industrials has already produced one of the biggest upsets of the season and will be out to repeat the dose when the Dusties start underdogs against Inverloch-Kongwak in the first elimination final on Saturday.
The Dusties, who finished sixth, have played fellow finals contenders on nine occasions this season, and on eight occasions it hasn’t really gone well.
But their one win…well it was an absolute beauty and will provide coach Harmit Singh and his side with the confidence to take it to the third-placed Sea Eagles at the Bass Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The Dusties 38-point victory over Phillip Island in round 12 was meticulously orchestrated, with Singh imploring his players to overcome the odds and take the challenge head on.
On that particular occasion – they did just that.
“Apart from finals, it’s probably the best win I’ve been a part of,” Singh said, before explaining the back story.
“People forget how much turnover our list has had…we lost to Phillip Island in round 16, 2019, by 167 points, so for us to be anywhere near competitive we needed everyone to do their job, and to be invested and play with real intent for longer.
“We had a clear plan on how we wanted to play, so to be in the game at quarter time, and then again after the second quarter, gave us belief and confidence that what we were doing was working.
“And they went on with it, which is a credit to the 21 boys on how hard they worked both with and without the ball.”
The Dusties victory was all the more meritorious considering the interrupted nature of its preparation.
Skipper, and superstar, Shane Brewster pulled out with sore ribs on Friday night, while valuable-mid Kane Oldham (Back) and forward Anthony Bruhn (Head knock) were others to sit on the sidelines.
Singh was proud of the remaining Dusties’ dedication to the task at hand.
“We obviously had to change things up a bit, but the commitment from the group on Thursday night to try and understand the way I wanted to play was excellent,” Singh said.
“We’ve shown in games this year that we can be really good for a quarter or a half, against all opposition, but we haven’t maintained that level for four quarters.
“I was very proud of the group to commit to playing our way against very good opposition that we rate very highly.
“There’s no way to hide against the better teams in the competition, they hold you accountable…and we dealt with that well against Phillip Island.”
Inverloch will certainly hold Warragul accountable on the weekend, considering the Sea Eagles have put the clamps on the Dusties both times they have met this year.
The Dusties have only managed 36 and 45 points in their two encounters.
The Dusties have some lively types up forward, with Mason McGarrity booting bags of seven and 10 this season, but no other player has kicked more than four goals in a game this year.
Travis Ogden, Anthony Bruhn and Kane Taylor are the players to do so, while key talls Jackson Mockett and Kyle Staples will certainly drift forward at times to try and test the Sea Eagles defence.
The Sea Eagles have also only been steady, rather than spectacular, in front of goals with Jenson Garnham being the livewire up forward with nine goals over the last three weeks of footy.
But the Sea Eagles hold the aces over the ground, with players like Oscar Toussaint, Corey Casey and Dylan Clark set to lead their team to victory.
It’s been a great season Dusties – and you are roughly a one-in-nine chance – but it’s the Sea Eagles to progress with a 26-point victory.
FINALS RECORDS SINCE 2010
CLUB FINALS WON LOSS GF’s FLAGS
INVERLOCH-KONGWAK 12 6 6 2 1
WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS 17 7 10 1 0
FINALS RECORDS SINCE 2010
CLUB FINALS WON LOSS GF’s FLAGS
TOORADIN-DALMORE 6 2 4 0 0
PHILLIP ISLAND 17 12 5 3 3
INVERLOCH-KONGWAK 12 6 6 2 1
NAR NAR GOON 15 7 8 1 1
CORA LYNN 28 17 11 6 3
WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS 17 7 10 1 0
Sunday, 21 August, 2022
2nd Elimination Final (4 v 5)
Garfield Recreation Reserve
Seniors: Nar Nar Goon (4) v Cora Lynn (5)
Reserves: Cora Lynn (4) v Bunyip (5)
Thirds: Phillip Island (4) v Garfield (5)
Fourths: Korumburra-Bena (4) v Garfield (5)
TOP-10 GOAL KICKERS – SENIORS
PLAYER TEAM THIS RD TOTAL
Nathan Gardiner Cora Lynn 7 78
Dermott Yawney Nar Nar Goon 5 77
Jason Wells Kooweerup 4 74
Stewart Scanlon Tooradin-Dalmore 0 59
Mason McGarrity Warragul Industrials 3 51
Jack Taylor Phillip Island 1 39
Marcus Baxter Kilcunda Bass 1 34
Toby Mahoney Inverloch-Kongwak 2 34
Tristan Van Driel Inverloch-Kongwak 0 34
Nathan Voss Kooweerup 2 33
LADDERS
SENIORS W L D F A % PTS
Tooradin-Dalmore 17 1 0 2078 779 266.75 68
Phillip Island 16 2 0 1970 889 221.60 64
Inverloch-Kongwak 14 4 0 1713 967 177.15 56
Nar Nar Goon 13 5 0 1680 964 174.27 52
Cora Lynn 12 6 0 1580 1114 141.83 48
Warragul Industrials 10 8 0 1428 1163 122.79 40
Bunyip 8 10 0 1190 1278 93.11 32
Koo Wee Rup 7 11 0 1297 1568 82.72 28
Kilcunda Bass 7 11 0 970 1522 63.73 28
Dalyston 2 16 0 818 1906 42.92 8
Garfield 1 17 0 757 1890 40.05 4
Korumburra-Bena 1 17 0 705 2146 32.85 4
RESERVES W L D F A % PTS
Tooradin-Dalmore 18 0 0 1970 261 754.79 72
Nar Nar Goon 15 3 0 1421 685 207.45 60
Phillip Island 13 5 0 1445 562 257.12 52
Cora Lynn 13 5 0 1261 614 205.38 52
Bunyip 12 6 0 1323 640 206.72 48
Koo Wee Rup 11 7 0 1263 646 195.51 44
Inverloch-Kongwak 9 9 0 1005 733 137.11 36
Warragul Industrials 6 12 0 835 1205 69.30 24
Dalyston 5 13 0 602 1276 47.18 20
Garfield 3 15 0 680 1350 50.37 12
Korumburra-Bena 2 16 0 283 2296 12.33 8
Kilcunda Bass 1 17 0 344 2164 15.90 4
THIRDS W L BYE F A % PTS
Tooradin-Dalmore 13 2 3 1259 420 299.76 52
Inverloch-Kongwak 12 2 4 1185 247 479.76 48
Cora Lynn 11 3 4 947 472 200.64 44
Phillip Island 11 4 3 1047 502 208.57 44
Garfield 10 4 4 974 359 271.31 40
Nar Nar Goon 5 10 3 623 801 77.78 20
Korumburra-Bena 4 11 3 548 1223 44.81 16
Bunyip 4 11 3 475 1075 44.19 16
Koo Wee Rup 3 12 3 652 1009 64.62 12
Dalyston 0 14 4 124 1726 7.18 0
Kilcunda Bass 0 0 18 0 0 0.00 0
Warragul Industrials 0 0 18 0 0 0.00 0
FOURTHS W L BYE F A % PTS
Inverloch-Kongwak 17 0 1 1352 241 561.00 68
Phillip Island 15 1 2 1192 242 492.56 60
Warragul Industrials 12 4 2 1167 369 316.26 48
Korumburra-Bena 11 6 1 799 468 170.73 44
Garfield 10 6 2 736 692 106.36 40
Bunyip 8 8 2 674 594 113.47 32
Koo Wee Rup 7 9 2 605 835 72.46 28
Kilcunda Bass 4 12 2 329 838 39.26 16
Nar Nar Goon 4 13 1 417 1064 39.19 16
Dalyston 2 14 2 373 960 38.85 8
Tooradin-Dalmore 0 17 1 218 1559 13.98 0
Cora Lynn 0 0 18 0 0 0.00 0
WGFNC FINALS
Saturday, 20 August, 2022
1st Elimination Final (3 v 6)
Bass Recreation Reserve
Seniors: Inverloch-Kongwak (3) v Warragul Industrials (6)
Reserves: Phillip Island (3) v Kooweerup (6)
Thirds: Cora Lynn (3) v Nar Nar Goon (6)
Fourths: Warragul Industrials (3) v Bunyip (6)
Sunday, 21 August, 2022
2nd Elimination Final (4 v 5)
Bunyip Recreation Reserve
Seniors: Nar Nar Goon (4) v Cora Lynn (5)
Reserves: Cora Lynn (4) v Bunyip (5)
Thirds: Phillip Island (4) v Garfield (5)
Fourths: Korumburra-Bena (4) v Garfield (5)
Reserves = Koowee and Bunyip swap positions
Thirds – Phillip Island and Garfield swap places
WGFNC FINALS VENUES – 2022
WEEK 1
Saturday, 20 August
1st Elimination Final (3 v 6)
Bass Recreation Reserve
Sunday, 21 August
2nd Elimination Final (4 v 5)
Bunyip Recreation Reserve
WEEK 2
Saturday, 27 August
2nd Semi Final (1 v 2)
Inverloch Recreation Reserve
Sunday, 28 August
1st Semi Final (Winner’s Week 1)
Cora Lynn Recreation Reserve
WEEK 3
Saturday, 3 September
Preliminary Final
Dalyston Recreation Reserve
(Loser 2nd Semi Final v Winner 1st Semi Final)
WEEK 4
Saturday, 10 September
Grand Final
Kooweerup Recreation Reserve
(Winner 2nd Semi Final v Winner Preliminary Final)