Practice makes perfect for confident Seagulls

BARWON Heads coach Mitch Herbison said his side had nothing to lose in experimenting during Saturday’s loss to Torquay.

The Seagulls were destined to finish the season second or third, regardless of the result, meaning Herbison could use the hitout as a practice match for week one of finals.

“We tried a few different tactics on the field, whether it would be with our backline or midfield group and forward line setups,” Herbison said.

“Some things worked, some things didn’t — it gives us a good look moving into the finals.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to try and do new things without having a massive consequence of dropping down (the ladder) in terms of next week. We’ve treated it as a bit of a learning curve.”

The Gulls will meet in-form powerhouse and triple reigning premier Geelong Amateur in a qualifying final this week, with the winner to face Torquay for a direct passage through to the BFL grand final.

“We feel we can play a brand of footy that can really test Ammos and we will hit the next couple of weeks with all we have got,” Herbison said.

“We’ll come to play from the first bounce and try not to give a side that little bit of momentum.

“We’re really confident that we can bring a brand of footy that is going to hold up (and) be really competitive over the next few weeks.”

But Herbison said Torquay showcased a brand that would stand up in the next month.

“(Torquay) were really impressive, they took control of the game early and used the footy really well going up forward especially in that first quarter,” he said.

“Obviously they’re a quality side and they gave us a bit of a touch up earlier in the year.

“They certainly played some quality footy and showed that they’re going to be hard to stop in the finals.”

The Tigers slammed on seven goals to one in the first quarter and Barwon Heads failed to hit the lead.

Herbison and teammate Chris Martin bagged two goals each, while winger Jason Kerby was prolific for the Seagulls.

“We’re pretty happy to be in a top-three position, but that’s not our end goal; we’ve got to make sure we’re here to give it a real hot crack,” Herbison said.

“The next four weeks are going to be a massive challenge and we’ve felt like we’ve prepared really well to give it a good go.”