Eye of Tigers on sharpening skills
TORQUAY coach Dom Gleeson believes the premiership race is wide open after his side scrapped out a vital 14-point comeback win over Modewarre.
Gleeson described the fight for the flag as a “five-horse race” after the Tigers snatched top spot from Barwon Heads by just 0.02 per cent.
But Gleeson was quick to point out his side needs to sharpen its skill level to be fully equipped for the business end of the season.
Down by five goals in the first term on a windy day at Spring Creek Reserve, the Tigers shaved the margin back to four points at halftime and won the physical war of attrition after the main break, running out 11.14 (80) to 10.6 (66) winners over the fourthplaced Warriors.
“Ladder position, (I’m) really happy (with), obviously we aim for the top three in this comp and it gives you good opportunity in the finals time,” Gleeson said.
“But there’s so much work to be done. We’ve got Newcomb next week with (us having) some sore bodies, Queenscliff who have beaten us before and then Barwon Heads, so she’s a good threeweek run in.
“Ammos is probably our chink in the armour for the year. They were outstanding, they put a lot of homework into our group and they moved the footy brilliantly at home, and we went and did some soul-searching (from that game a fortnight ago).”
Formidable forward pairing Scott Hughes and Billy Henderson played their roles well on Saturday, snagging three goals each on a day where goals were at a premium.
The former GFL pair have combined for almost 100 goals already this year — Hughes with 51 and Henderson 46.
William Barnes and Liam McGlashan were judged the Tigers’ best.
“When you’re sitting in the stands, you probably don’t see how strong the wind was,” Gleeson said.
“I thought we held our nerve really well for the first half of that (first) quarter and then they got those three late goals, which really hurt us, but our intent was pretty good.
“Modewarre kept coming, as we knew they would, and we put a fair bit of homework in on how they attack — they go about it really hard over the footy and I really respect that.
“It was hard for both teams to score (in the second half). I think we started to get a bit of momentum in the midfield our way, with (Josh) Hovey and James Darke getting their hands on the footy (and) Jesse White coming in.
“But overall it was a hard game, one of those old bush footy games that the skills weren’t overly high.
“There was a lot of pressure around the footy. I’d love to see the tackle count after today because I’d think there would be some sore bodies.”
The Tigers’ focus for the rest of the season is on whether they can keep Barwon Heads at bay to earn themselves the week off in the first weekend of finals.
There’s also the looming threat posed by the Ammos.
“You go into every game to win it,” Gleeson said.
“You’ve (also) got to lose them to learn.
“I think skill execution is a big one in this league.
“If you’re hitting your targets and maintaining possession with the ball, you’ll go a long way in winning.
“We have just been making some crucial errors in turnovers and been getting scored against.
“If I could improve anything in this group in the next three weeks, it’s going to be skill execution.”