Dandy faces top form Falcons

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG will need to stop a resurgent Geelong this Saturday if it’s to advance to a second-straight TAC Cup grand final.
The minor premier Falcons, who had lost just one game before succumbing to Eastern in the qualifying final, returned to top form in crushing the Gold Coast by 41 points in Sunday’s semi-final at Visy Park.
Geelong coach Garry Hocking publicly questioned his players’ willingness to put their head over the footy after the Eastern game, so Sunday’s uncompromising performance would not have gone unnoticed by the resting Rays.
The preliminary final is shaping as a shootout between two of the competition’s elite midfields.
Stingrays ball-winners Tom Scully, Ryan Bastinac, Mitch Hallahan and Luke Parker are all in good form, as are Falcons playmakers Ben Cunnington, Allen Christensen, Zach Ledin and Michael Sodomaco.
And, as Stingrays region manager Darren Flanigan recalled this week, it was Geelong’s relentless on-ball pressure that brought the Rays undone in their 34-point loss to the Falcons in round 16.
“We just wasted the footy,” Flanigan said.
“I think our kicking efficiency was about our worst for the year, which is an indication of the amount of pressure they put on us and their structure forward of the footy.”
The Rays played into Geelong’s hands by bombing the ball towards key forwards Myles Pitt and Levi Casboult that day, so more patience and creativity will be needed on Saturday.
“We’ve got to be a lot smarter with the footy going forward,” Flanigan said.
“It all comes down to our efficiency through the midfield, but if our tall forwards can stand up and catch a few then we’re certainly going to put their defenders under a bit of pressure.”
The winner of Saturday’s match – beginning at 2pm at Visy Park – will play either the Eastern Ranges or Calder Cannons in the grand final at Etihad Stadium the following Friday night.