TWO of the best players in the Gippsland League, Wonthaggi’s leading defender Kyle Reid and Leongatha’s Qualifying Final hero Cam Olden will both be missing from this Saturday’s Second Semi-final blockbuster at Morwell.
Tragically Reid suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the Power’s last-round-of-the-season match against Morwell while Olden opted to take a one-match suspension for what has been reported as an errant elbow against Moe at Wonthaggi last Saturday.
Hanging over his head, if he challenged it at the tribunal was a two-week penalty, potentially missing out on a chance to play in either a Preliminary Final or even a Grand Final, should the Parrots get through against Wonthaggi this week.
Both players are a huge loss for their respective teams, and you always want to see clubs able to put their best players out there in such a big game, but for completely different reasons, it’s not to be.
Looking at it purely dispassionately, the loss of two such brilliant players, effectively cancels each other out, and there can be no excuses, for the fans of either side, as their teams face up to their destiny on Saturday.
Of course, you can’t look at it dispassionately. For Kyle Reid, the injury, which is virtually a repeat of the ACL blow he suffered to the same right leg last time, isn’t only a massive blow to his enjoyment of sport and everything that goes with it, but it also impacts his career prospects as well. It’s a really tough situation.
And for Olden, who kicked eight goals to lead the Parrots in against Moe last week, it’s a complete turnaround in emotions, from elation to anxiety but at least he can suit up again this season and try to impact the result again.
The pair were two of a total of six outs for the two teams ahead of Saturday’s crucial contest, with a place in the 2023 Gippsland League Grand Final on the line, and also a chance to dodge Moe in a prelim should they be able to despatch Traralgon on Sunday at Maffra, as they almost certainly will.
The ins for Wonthaggi look good with Cooper McInnes, Jack Hutchinson and Jordan Staley in for Reid, and the desperately unlucky Hunter Tiziani and Jacob Williams.
Both these guys have done everything their coach Jarryd Blair has asked of them and could still come back in the weeks ahead, and slot right in seamlessly.
Jordan Staley offers versatility to the Power, not only proving his mettle as a secure, tall defender but also able to go forward or pinch hit in the ruck. He’s a great inclusion, with Reid going out.
The Parrots will have trouble covering Olden of course, and don’t underestimate what the loss of livewire Jesse Burns will mean as well. But the Parrots have welcomed back two excellent onballers, Kim Drew and Jake van der Pligt, who together with Jack Hume, a much-needed addition up forward, are important inclusions as well.
It's unknown why Burns is missing but with a couple of injury niggles in the Parrots’ camp, it would not be a surprise to see Mason McGannon included in the 22 which runs out on Saturday. He played his role up forward last week with plenty of forward pressure, some goal assists and also a goal of his own in a solid performance.
So, who wins? It’s got to be close to 50-50 at this stage.
The arch-rivals have swapped wins in the home-and-away season, Leongatha by three points at home in April and Wonthaggi by 17 points in a low-scoring affair at Wonthaggi early in July.
Wonthaggi peppered the scoring zone to have 19 scoring shots to 12 in that game, with Leongatha scoring only one goal after half time, such was the defensive press by the Power.
On the strength of that, you might say Wonthaggi has the edge, but Cam Olden wasn’t playing in that game, whereas Reid was an integral cog in the Power’s defensive machine.
On the other hand, Leongatha’s own intercept defender Guy Dickson was playing back in July, but due to strict work commitments, is unavailable now.
It’s a fascinating puzzle but in the end, an impossible one to disentangle until you see them out on the ground on the day.
In other words, all roads lead to Morwell this Saturday, September 9, to see history made as two South Gippsland teams face off for a chance to go straight through to the grand final, and a week off which both could use to get themselves cherry-ripe for the ultimate challenge that lies ahead.
Click here for a link to the selected teams: https://www.playhq.com/afl/org/gippsland-league/2023/seniors/game-centre/3335827a
Sunday’s finals at Maffra
Sunday at Maffra will be a big day for the Leongatha Football Netball Club as well with two football teams, the Under 18s and Under 16s, and four netball teams; A Grade, B Grade, Under 17s and Under 15s all engaged in the last-chance First Semi-finals.
Leongatha’s A Graders come up against Drouin in their do-or-die final, a team that they’ve had two close losses against during the season, a 47-52 result in June and a one-intercept result in August 39-41.
This game could literally go either way.
Leongatha’s Thirds are a team full of promise and despite a costly lapse in the second quarter against Warragul last week at Wonthaggi, they really started to find form in the second half and will go into the match against Maffra full of confidence despite losing to the Eagles at both meetings this year. Plus, the game is on home turf at Maffra.
It's another huge weekend of football with the weather the only wildcard, with a forecast of “showers easing” at Morwell on Saturday and a top of just 13 degrees but with a westerly wind at between 25 km/h and 35km/h all day.
It’s expected to be better at Maffra on Sunday, “cloudy” with a top of 16 degrees and the wind easing back from 25 km/h.
Gippsland League football finals
Saturday, September 9 at Morwell
- Seniors: Wonthaggi v Leongatha at 2.20pm
- Reserves: Leongatha v Maffra at 12.30pm
- Thirds: Traralgon v Warragul at 10.45am
- Fourths: Traralgon v Maffra at 9am
Sunday, September 10 at Maffra
- Seniors: Moe v Traralgon at 2.20pm
- Reserves: Traralgon v Sale at 12.30pm
- Thirds: Leongatha v Maffra at 10.45am
- Fourths: Bairnsdale v Leongatha at 9am
Gippsland League netball finals
Saturday, September 9 at Morwell
- A Grade: Moe v Morwell 2.35pm
- B Grade: Traralgon v Drouin 1.20pm
- C Grade: Leongatha v Maffra 12.15pm
- Under 17s: Traralgon v Sale 11.10am
- Under 15s: Traralgon v Sale 10.05am
- Under 13s: Traralgon v Sale 9am
Sunday, September 10 at Maffra
- A Grade: Leongatha v Drouin 2.35pm
- B Grade: Leongatha v Moe 1.20pm
- C Grade: Drouin v Bairnsdale 12.15pm
- Under 17s: Leongatha v Maffra 11.10am
- Under 15s: Leongatha v Bairnsdale 10.05am
- Under 13s: Moe v Bairnsdale 9am
