By Tyler Lewis
Belief in football is a powerful thing.
Rowville coach Ben Wise believed his side could win the premiership – despite what occurred over the course of the last three seasons – before the first Sherrin was even thrown into the air in 2022.
And now his Hawks can, after defeating Noble Park 15.6 (96) to 8.12 (60) in Saturday’s semi-final to secure the first spot in the Eastern Football League Premier Division grand final.
The Hawks’ even six-goal victory stemmed from a flawlessly accomplished opening 13 minutes.
After being a side that has typically started slow this season, the Hawks whacked five unanswered goals on the board to put the Bulls on the canvas within the blink of an eye.
Kurtis Flakemore appeared immoveable under the footy, while Lachie Wynd, Mav Taylor and Matt Davey were running rampant inside 50.
As good sides do, the Bulls hit back late in the first, kicking a goal on the quarter-time siren through Jackson Sketcher, before kicking the three of the first four goals of the second to trim the margin back to within 14 points.
But the Bulls’ inability to capitalise, and dissimilarly the Hawks’ ability to execute, separated the two sides all day.
That failure to complete their work cost the Bulls in the second half, kicking 2.9 to Rowville’s 4.3.
Tears of joy drenched the Rowville rooms at the sound of the final siren, as the Hawks celebrated spots in the big dance for both the seniors and the reserves.
“It’s probably the biggest time in the club’s history,” coach Wise said.
“There was a lot of talk externally about the ‘monkey off the back, we have to win a final… all that sort of sh*t’, but where we are now, from three or four years pre Covid, it’s just a different group.
“To get the reserves in as well, beating Blackburn who haven’t lost a game for three years, it just shows how good our group is.”
The Hawks had lost eight of 18 opening stanzas this season – including the past three – but Saturday’s opening term was nothing short of sizzling.
Wise put it down to the mental approach.
“Probably just the mindset of the players,” he explained.
“Everything we touched and the way we moved the footy, it just worked.
“We knew if we got it in quick enough one-on-one with our forwards, we would’ve had them on toast.
“With Wydny (Lachie Wynd), Kurtis (Flakemore), Matty Davey and Mav (Taylor) one-on-one, they look really dangerous.
“Our midfield’s delivery into the forward-line was really elite, so it was a bit of that as well, it made it a bit easier to execute in front of goal.”
At quarter time, the Hawks had kicked 18.2 in their past three quarters against Noble Park, and while it seems his side can’t miss when they have the momentum, Wise has seen his side skew opportunities before.
“We have had our moments like that as well,” he said.
“We have had games where we can’t hit the scoreboard and we kick a lot of points.
“You see the results throughout the year, we have kicked 10.14 or 10.17, so over the last month of the year leading into finals we’ve had a real focus on execution forward of centre.
“And training on bigger decks, it just shows how much talent they’ve got by foot.”
Noble Park’s Steve Hughes was disappointed with how his sides pressure was applied in the opening 13 minutes, while commending Rowville’s electrifying ball-use.
“We were just marginally off probably as defenders to bring the ball to ground… they (Rowville) kicked it beautifully,” he said.
“Their ball use – particularly early on – was outstanding, so there’s an element of the ball needed to come to ground by the defenders, which they’re responsible for, but in the middle third of the ground there wasn’t enough pressure as well.
“You add those two layers together and they hit the scoreboard to open up a lead that probably was too big for us to close.
“It’s disappointing, but we’ve got to focus on next week and try to correct a few things.
“Credit to Benny’s boys, they deserved to win, they were the better side on the day 100 per cent, we walk away thinking if we do get another opportunity to play them again that we can win the game – that’s our belief.”
While Hughes is confident his group can bounce back and meet Rowville again, the Bulls’ failure to finish inside 50 didn’t escape him.
“I have told this group that I have an unshakeable belief, but we have to execute better,” he said.
“We had our chances; they gave us looks on goal and we missed opportunities that might’ve created more momentum for us.
“We’ve got to be better than in a final having set shots 30 out directly in front and missing, you can’t hide from that in a final, if you’re unable to finish the work, then it’ll come back to bite you.
“I thought we had a number of constant entries into our arc, Rowville were able to defend it well, but then transition down the other end and kick a goal.
“We just have to get better at both areas.”
Noble Park will face the winner of today’s second semi-final between South Croydon and Doncaster East.
ROWVILLE 7.2 11.3 13.5 15.6 (96)
NOBLE PARK 3.0 6.3 7.8 8.12 (60)
Rowville Goals: M Davey 4, L Wynd 3, K Flakemore 2, J Coleclough 2, M Taylor 2, J Arundell, J Clarke. Best: N Schoenmakers, J Eickhoff, L Wynd, M Davey, T Barlow, A Brolic.
Noble Park Goals: H Fairnbank, B Marson 2, J Sketcher 2, B Lambert, K Martin. Best: J Sketcher, K Martin, C Horton-Milne, J Stern, L Bull, L Scott.
FIXTURE:
PRELIMINARY FINAL:
Noble Park v winner of South Croydon v Doncaster East
GRAND FINAL:
Rowville v winner of Preliminary Final
