By Tyler Lewis
Rowville coach Ben Wise still believes opposition clubs are expecting his side to crash and burn.
“It’s funny, people are still waiting for us to stumble a little bit… for some reason 10-1 hasn’t given us the confidence of everyone on the outside,” he said.
The Hawks boosted to that 10-1 record on Saturday, after overpowering Blackburn 11.13 (79) to 6.12 (48).
The win came courtesy of midfield dominance and a standout performance from Nik Schoenmakers.
“Our biggest challenge coming into the back end of the year is to win the games we’re supposed to,” Wise said.
“Blackburn has been in pretty good form and we did our homework, they were really strong in the contest, so we just thought we had to match them on the inside, and we thought we had enough on the outside to put them under pressure.
“It was just a matter of getting ascendency through the middle of the ground and playing our way, building momentum and continuing to play the way we want through the back end of the year.”
By claiming victory over Blackburn, and Noble Park simultaneously defeating Vermont, the Hawks now sit 20 points clear inside the top-six.
But Wise isn’t motivating his group with a mathematical finals berth, but instead with the expectation of themselves each week.
“We haven’t spoken about it, I guess,” he said.
“If you look where we’re positioned, it’s the expectation of us as a group now, we obviously set out to give ourselves the opportunity to play at the pointy end and at the moment we’re doing what we need to do.
“I am sure some of the boys are thinking about it, it’s one week at a time for me, I just know that as soon you think about finals and what’s ahead, you lose what’s important and that’s the now.”
With the pointy end of the season beginning for the Hawks, Wise reflected on what his side has taught him so far this season.
“I have learned plenty of things,” he said.
“They have been such a diligent group with the messaging that has been coming from me and the coaching staff.
“They’ve been really willing to learn and respond, especially if we do get put under pressure, or we aren’t doing something well.
“The maturity of the group to be able to notice what’s been going wrong, adapt and change it has been the biggest one.
“The growth from round one to now, and we are still so far from where we want to be – that’s the exciting part.”
In other matches; Noble park stormed home over Vermont 12.19 (91) to 7.6 (48), Doncaster East outplayed Berwick 11.16 (82) to 1.6 (12), South Croydon defeated Norwood 13.13 (91) to 7.8 (50), Park Orchards belted North Ringwood 17.12 (114) to 12.6 (78) and Balwyn did as it needed too against Doncaster 13.13 (91) to 10.9 (69).
LADDER: Rowville 40, Noble Park 36, Balwyn 32, Doncaster East 28, South Croydon 28, Blackburn 22, Park Orchards 20, Vermont 20, Norwood 16, Doncaster 12, Berwick 10, North Ringwood 0.
FIXTURE: Balwyn v Blackburn, South Croydon v Rowville, Park Orchards v Noble Park, Norwood v Vermont, Doncaster v Berwick, Doncaster East v North Ringwood.
