Saints be praised
IT may have a wealth of inexperienced youngsters, but St Mary’s proved it was up for the challenge of finals football with a resounding win over reigning premier St Joseph’s on Saturday.
The Saints boasted a range of players experiencing GFL finals for the first time and none looked out of place.
Names such as Harrison Kol, Tom Lang and the McMahon twins stamped themselves on the game, showing the potential this group has, not only for the remainder of the finals, but in coming years.
“It’s just so exciting for the club. They are St Mary’s kids, kids who have come through the junior program,” co-coach Bryce Vincent said.
“They’ve got a big future and they just love being around each other and playing with each other, so it’s a good place to be at the moment.”
The Saints used the wind early to get a jump on their opponents and set up a comfortable victory.
St Mary’s played the game its way from the start, which was the plan going into the clash.
“We had a big focus to start the game well and play it on our terms,” Vincent said.
“I think we pressured, we ran really hard defensively and when we got the ball we moved it really quickly.
“Our focus was to do what we do well and we did that, which was great.
“We caught Joeys on the hop early with our pressure and that sort of stuff, and we didn’t allow them to play the way they wanted to play, which was good.”
St Mary’s moves on to face minor premier Leopold in the second semi-final and, after suffering a disappointing loss when the sides met in Round 15, St Mary’s will certainly enter the contest full of confidence.
Leopold won that clash by 27 points despite a fast start from St Mary’s.
“(Leopold has) earnt the right to be the favourite and it’s been the form side all year,” Vincent said.
“We were good early against them a few weeks ago but probably fell away. They’ll be fresh and ready to go, and it’s going to be a challenge but it’s what we’re here for.
“We’ve given ourselves the opportunity and we’re pretty excited to see how we go.”