Despite sitting two wins clear atop of the Eastern Football League (EFL) ladder Rowville coach Ben Wise is adamant his side has a plethora of things to play for this week.
After a shaky start on Saturday, the Hawks ultimately went on to lock in the minor premiership with a 10.7 (67) to 6.6 (42) win over Berwick.
The Hawks will now take on Balwyn, which is currently sitting in third and fighting for the chance to play Rowville in the second week of finals in the double-chance qualifying final.
According to Wise, there will be no resting and no complacency as his side seeks a mental edge over a potential finals opponent.
“You’re still playing for four points and you’re playing against a contender,” he said.
“So if you can’t get motivated to play well against a really good side that we’re possibly going to see in a week, two week’s or a months’ time… we just need to continue on the way we’re going.
“You can’t flirt with form, I won’t be resting players and I don’t think I am in a position where I need to do that.
“For us it’s about continuing to develop and execute what we want to achieve… there are a lot of areas where we need to keep getting better.
“As much as the points and ladder positions may not really matter, you still need to go in with a mentally strong approach and you’re coming in against a quality side.
“If you come out and change your approach, you give away a mental edge – we will be taking this game like every other game and we want to make sure we finish the home and away season on a high.”
A main focus for Wise heading into this week, with the Tigers on the road, is the Hawks’ starts…in the past two weeks they have lost the opening terms.
“You look at our side the last couple of weeks, we’ve had kids in and around the footy,” he said.
“We haven’t had much ruck dominance, and on the weekend it was a pretty howling breeze supporting one way.
“It was just a shit-fight I suppose, I knew it was going to be a scrap, the conditions were trying.
“I thought our intent was there (in the first term), but we didn’t execute the way we wanted to.
“I thought over the last couple of weeks we haven’t started well.
“But I look back and I think against Park Orchards we started well… is it a bit of an issue? I don’t think so… I am not looking too much into it, it will be a big focus for the weekend coming up against Balwyn.
“We do finish well, but we can’t be leaving our run too late.”
For Berwick, the first term was a stanza in which coach Clint Evans feels his side could’ve capitalised further on.
“We executed pretty well and we probably left a couple of goals out there in the first quarter,” he said.
“All in all, with the conditions we didn’t want to overuse the ball, so I was like ‘yep let’s get it in’.
“We maybe should’ve been a couple of goals more in front at quarter time, but I thought our pressure and all of that was really good at the start of the game.”
Throughout this year, it’s been a five or 10-minute patch of footy that’s lost the Wickers games.
On Saturday it threatened to happen again, Alex Frawley kicked his third before Lachie McDonald erupted out of the centre to put one on the board just seconds later.
While the trend was threatening to add another chapter of woe, Berwick stood tall and it’s an improvement Evans has seen grow particularly in the last fortnight.
“Definitely the last two weeks,” he said.
“We spoke about it before the game, when we have come up against Rowville, Noble (Park), Balwyn and South Croydon, there’s only been a 20 minute period in each game where every side has kicked five or six quick ones and that’s it, game over.
“Whereas against Blackburn last week, they got on top in the second quarter and we held them pretty well, then on the weekend against Rowville, they got hold of us, but we stuck in there.
“We probably missed two or three goals in the last three minutes of that third quarter that could’ve put us closer on the scoreboard.
“I said to them at the break, ‘this last quarter can go either way, we can drop off and lose by eight or nine goals, or we can stick fat and see what happens’.”
Despite suffering defeat, Saturday afternoon was a win for Berwick, as fellow EFL side Noble Park defeated North Ringwood, keeping the Wickers in the top flight.
Evans reiterated a previous statement, while also promising to shout Bulls coach Steve Hughes a drink next time they cross paths.
“I think I said last week; them losing to Rowville was the best thing for us, they had to win,” he said.
“Next time I see him, I will definitely buy him a beer that’s for sure, we didn’t want it to go to the last round.
“After last week, even the loss on the weekend, we know where we’re at and it’s not far away.
“Seems strange when you’re sitting second bottom, but I’ve gone through the scores and it will be good to have a good crack at it next year to see where we’re at.
“I think we’re five or six goals away from the top sides. I think if we can keep the group and recruit some others, I am really excited to see what we do next year.”
Berwick will host the side it avoided relegation to this week, North Ringwood.
That aforementioned Noble Park unit cantered home against North Ringwood, thrashing the Saints 17.11 (113) to 7.4 (46).
The Bulls kicked five goals to one in the opening stanza to secure the win, which is likely to keep the top-two finish alive.
The visitors had nine individual goal kickers, while Josh Stern (four goals), Kieren Byers (three), Shayne Allan (three) and Jack Franics (two) all kicked multiples.
The Bulls will roll out the welcome mat to Doncaster this Saturday, with a win promising the following weekend off.
In other matches: Jordan Lisle booted five as his Balwyn side defeated long-time rivals Vermont 13.8 (86) to 9.6 (60).
Doncaster East had a second match in as many weeks called off early due to injury, this week against Norwood.
The Norseman had a sickening friendly fire head clash stop the game with the scores level. The result has forced the Lions down to fifth position.
South Croydon torpedoed Doncaster 26.11 (167) to 4.8 (32) and Blackburn defeated Park Orchards 11.16 (82) to 5.9 (39).
GOAL BY GOAL TIMELINE
TIME PLAYER (CLUB) MARGIN
FIRST QUARTER
03.21 A Frawley (Rowville) Hawks by 6
08.11 J Burgess (Berwick) Scores level
11.12 J Keysers (Berwick) Wickers by 6
19.22 J Andrew (Berwick) Wickers by 11
End of quarter: Rowville 1.2 (8) to Berwick 3.0 (18)
SECOND QUARTER
07.50 A Frawley (Rowville) Wickers by 4
09.12 M Davey (Rowville) Hawks by 2
17.56 J Andrew (Berwick) Wickers by 4
21.08 M Taylor (Rowville) Hawks by 2
End of quarter: Rowville 4.4 (28) to Berwick 4.2 (26)
THIRD QUARTER
06.55 A Frawley (Rowville) Hawks by 7
07.45 L McDonald (Rowville) Hawks by 13
11.28 A Frawley (Rowville) Hawks by 19
15.40 J Burgess (Berwick) Hawks by 14
End of quarter: Rowville 7.5 (47) to Berwick 5.4 (34)
FOURTH QUARTER
06.54 M Davey (Rowville) Hawks by 19
11.10 M Davey (Rowville) Hawks by 25
16.45 J Arundall (Rowville) Hawks by 31
22.29 C Lane (Berwick) Hawks by 25
End of game: Rowville 10.7 (67) to Berwick 6.6 (42)
LADDER
TEAM W L % Pts
Rowville 15 2 142.41 60
Noble Park 13 4 148.33 52
Balwyn 13 4 142.93 52
South Croydon 12 5 139.85 48
Doncaster East 11 5 134.04 46
Blackburn 8 8 91.91 34
Norwood 7 9 102 30
Vermont 6 11 81.44 24
Park Orchards 5 12 90.56 20
Doncaster 5 12 62.18 20
Berwick 3 13 64.92 14
North Ringwood 2 15 50.75 8
FIXTURE – ROUND 18
Balwyn v Rowville
Noble Park v Doncaster
Berwick v North Ringwood
South Croydon v Norwood
Blackburn v Vermont
Doncaster East v Park Orchards
