Intense final pressure cooks Joeys
ST Joseph’s coach Heath Jamieson admits his team was “beaten in every facet of the game” after the minor premiers saved their first loss of the season for Saturday’s second semi-final.
Worryingly, the stunning defeat was Joeys third successive finals loss, following their straight sets exit in 2016.
Jamieson admitted his side “couldn’t handle” the pressure of the ruthless Saints, describing the result as “completely demoralising”.
“The bar got raised. We were the bar coming in, but we’re going to have to be better than we have been this year to beat St Mary’s now,” he said.
“We were completely outplayed. For 18 rounds we were the best side, but that has changed now.”
Joeys had averaged a winning margin of 50 points over the sides’ previous meetings this year.
St Joseph’s looked a shadow of the side that looked close to unbeatable all year.
So much so, the final margin probably didn’t do justice to St Mary’s dominance. The Saints were 51 points up at half-time and 66 at the final change.
“It was looking like a 100-point loss for a large part of the day,” Jamieson said. “We couldn’t handle their heat — we turned the ball over horrendously.
“We’ve never used the ball that badly this year, and to St Mary’s credit they kept putting the heat on our boys and we just couldn’t play.”
But Jamieson still believes his side can go all the way.
“One thing I am confident in is that our group of players is very good,” he said.
“But hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. That’s what happened today. I’m sure you’ll see a different St Joseph’s side next week.”