Noble challenge

By Paul Pickering
ONE way or another, Noble Park will go a long way towards answering the most pressing question in the Eastern Football League this Saturday.
Can Vermont be challenged in Division One?
The anticipated grand final replay will play out in front of a bumper crowd at the Bullring, with Noble and neutral supporters alike hoping that the home side is up to the task.
They will have been buoyed by Noble’s polished and disciplined performance at Balwyn on Saturday, when the Bulls systematically dismantled the pre-season fancies on their own patch to win by 31 points.
The star-studded Tigers were expected to be fuming after a 133-point pasting at the hands of Vermont the previous week, but it was only a 10-goal final quarter that allowed them to escape a similar fate on Saturday.
After being smashed in the clearances all day, the Tigers – led by colossal ruckmen Bradley Smith – sprang to life in junk time to boot six-consecutive goals and dent what was a 64-point deficit.
But just as Balwyn began to sniff an improbable victory, Bulls playing-coach Kris Barlow emerged to ice the game with a telling goal from 50m out.
It was a fitting moment, given that Barlow had played the game at a different level to his peers throughout the afternoon.
Despite playing four quarters in the midfield, Barlow surged forward to kick five goals in a supreme performance.
He was ably supported by fellow on-ballers Peter O’Brien and Craig Anderson, while key forwards Heath Black (five goals) and Daniel Donati (four) provided commanding targets.
It was Donati who started the Bulls’ charge by kicking three goals in the first quarter, while Black had the better of former-AFL talent Patrick Bowden before halftime.
Bowden, who was thrown forward by Balwyn coach Daniel Harford in the third, recovered to boot five of his own as the Tigers searched for option up forward.
Most impressive for the Bulls was the patience shown in negotiating Balwyn’s pseudo-zone defence.
It was that improved movement that gave Barlow reason for optimism ahead of Saturday’s top-two clash against the undefeated Eagles.
“We were wary of them getting numbers back, so we had a focus to run and carry and using the useable player,” Barlow said.
From there, it was a matter of the midfielders lowering their eyes and pin-pointing targets – which they did with aplomb.
After celebrating a win over his former-Hawthorn teammates in Harford and Joel Smith, Barlow will now lead the Bulls out against his most recent club in Vermont.
And despite the agonising loss in last year’s grand final, revenge is the furthest thing from Barlow’s mind this week.
“It still burns a bit for some individuals, (but) we won’t use that as motivation,” he said.
“Because we’ve got a different group of players this year.
“We’re just looking forward to the challenge of playing the best side in metropolitan footy.”
Few would argue with Barlow’s assessment of his former club, especially considering they have won their last two games by a total of 343 points.