Another range to conquer for Falcons

GEELONG Falcons face their toughest test this season, up against Eastern Ranges this week, but coach Daniel O’Keefe knows the challenges will not stop on Sunday.

The Ranges are sixth on the TAC Cup table but boast arguably the most talented side in the competition.

And with all players available following the end of the state carnival and school football, the Falcons might finally meet their match. “All of a sudden the year has dawned upon us and there’s just two games to go, but the exciting part is the game this weekend is the biggest game we’ve had all year,” O’Keefe said.

“We’ve got Eastern this weekend where most people in the industry tout them as the team to beat, and then following that is Dandenong, who are a top-four side also. And then you’re playing a quality side whoever you come up against in the first week of finals.

“Eastern’s top-end talent speaks for itself. They’ve got academy boys coming out of their ears and they’ve had 11 play representative state for Vic Metro — that’s more than what we had in Vic Country.

“It shapes up as a big challenge but also an exciting day for both clubs and people watching.”

The Falcons maintain top spot on the ladder on percentage but O’Keefe said his side had to go up another level.

“We talk about where we’re at as far as gears, and we’ve got to go another gear for the next couple of weeks, and then on top of that find another one as soon as we hit our finals campaign,” he said.

“I think our good footy can beat anyone — that’s been proven all year — but I guess our challenge is we’ve got to do it for longer periods of the game.”

But O’Keefe said he was in the enviable position of having a healthy list heading into the last fortnight of the season.

“At this time of the year we’re trying to play our ultimate best side to give players the best opportunity to fulfil their dreams but also generate some team success, which the Geelong Falcons have been starved of for a long time,” he said.

“We’ve very lucky, touch wood, we’ve done well with injuries. We're just about full strength, so we’re in a good position I feel.”

O’Keefe said his side’s strength was its ability to share the load and not rely on one or two players.

“We haven’t had one standout player all year,” he said.

“You could throw a blanket over probably 10 to a dozen great consistent performers all season who you can trust week in week out.

“We’ve probably got less absolutely elite top talent compared to some other clubs but what we pride ourselves on is having a team structure, a really good bond within the group and we bat deep in terms of ability and talent.

“We feel we’ve got a really strong and good squad.”

The Falcons host the Ranges at Deakin University at 1pm.