Warriors brace for
Sacrifices the secret to success THE BELLARINE BATTLERS WHO NEVER LOST FAITH
THERE is one non-negotiable at Modewarre this finals series.
You must sacrifice. There can be no passengers on the Warrior Wagon as they drive towards this year’s BFL premiership.
On Saturday morning, before Modewarre went on to beat Queenscliff to earn a place in the grand final, Linton Hogan stared that non-negotiable in the face and made the biggest call of his career.
“He had a sore calf during the week and he did a fitness test and declared himself unfit,” captain Jacob Clark said.
“It’s massive (to make that call). We said we don’t want any passengers and he knew that. He made the call himself.”
Coach Josh Finch now has a selection headache.
Hogan has played all season. Does he come straight back in? Or will Finch favour a winning formula?
Modewarre has been one of the competition’s form sides since Round 8, with its only losses since then coming against grand final opponent Geelong Amateur.
Clark said decisions such as Hogan’s showed just how united the Modewarre playing group was heading into the biggest game of the year.
There is a genuine confidence that it can cause a massive boilover and roll a hot premiership favourite.
“Josh has a game plan and he has drilled it into us all through pre-season. It just took a while for it to click,” Clark said.
“We all start believing in it and as you get people buying into a game plan then things happen. We believe in the game plan and we are starting to chalk up the wins.”
Clark admitted there was a bit of a “weird feeling” in the rooms after beating Queenscliff by 24 points — a sense of relief more than excitement for the Warriors players who dragged their club into a maiden BFL grand final appearance.
Clark believes their leadup was perfect, despite not having a break during finals.
“I think the lead-up couldn’t have been any better for us, playing every week. History shows we don’t play well off the bye,” Clark said.
“Coming in (to the grand final) after playing every game I think is perfect for us. Now we get a break and we can go in and have a crack at Ammos.” THE Bellarine Battler is a title Modewarre is happy to carry.
It’s a badge of pride for a club that considers itself the small fish in a big pond.
Modewarre has a population of 569 with an average age of 41.
That’s dwarfed by the likes of clubs that have the drawing power of booming populations in Torquay, Ocean Grove and Drysdale.
Then there’s Saturday’s grand final opponent Geelong Amateur.
Ammos are the only BFL club based in central Geelong and it is the place where many seasoned GFL players turn when they are looking to drop back a level with their footy.
“We’re a small club, we’re like the good old Aussie battler,” Modewarre coach Josh Finch said after winning his fourth Les Ash Medal last week.
“We’re just a small club that does the best with what we’ve got. We’ve got a population of about 500 from Moriac to Modewarre and we’re going up against Torquay, Queenscliff, Anglesea, Ocean Grove. I don’t even know where to start with their population.”
Six weeks into the season, Modewarre was 2-4, ninth on the ladder and having been wiped off the park by teams that got a hold of it.
Cynically, for a club that had largely struggled to penetrate the finals equation in its recent history and often had to contend with major injuries, it seemed the Warriors’ destiny for the season had been cast.
But Finch, publicly at least, never lost the faith, preaching the need for time, patience and repetition.
Their resurgence under the first-year coach is refreshing. There is a new face among the contenders, a feel-good story for the neutrals to ride hard.
Veteran Chris Mamalis has delivered in all three finals after bagging another five matchdefining goals against Queenscliff in Saturday’s preliminary final.
That’s 15 in three weeks. It is a luxury the club has not had in recent years after he hardly played at all in the past three seasons.
Mitch Fisher’s form has been pivotal and Daniel Sturzaker was also a leading force against the Coutas.
It will be a big week for the club, the town and its people.
Modewarre is only 10 minutes past Waurn Ponds down the highway to Colac, but a trip to Mt Moriac Reserve feels like a venture to the far-flung reaches of the countryside.
The oval is nestled among paddocks. There are rolling hills out the back behind the sparkling new clubrooms.
“That’s what makes us a tight-knit football and netball club, so we’ll just go out and see how far we can get,” Finch said.