It’ll be a cracker: Joeys
’We’ve got the weapons’
ST JOSEPH’S coach Heath Jamieson says his side’s second semi-final loss is “irrelevant” as it pushes for its second premiership in three years.
Joeys were stunned a fortnight ago, succumbing to the rampant pressure of St Mary’s to suffer their first loss of the season in their first final.
But Jamieson is adamant his charges were quick to dust themselves off, regaining confidence with a 74-point preliminary final win over Colac.
“We just went back to what we do,” Jamieson said.
“You have a good look at yourself and evaluate how you went on that day and get better. That’s what sport’s all about.
“If you get a clip or you get beaten by a better side, you want to turn the tables and come out the next week and make amends for that.
“We were able to do that in the prelim and Colac’s a pretty dangerous side and had a good finals series with two wins and we were able to get our game back. That’s how you respond and that’s what we’re after from our players.
“We’ve given ourselves and opportunity to do what we want to do. At the end of the day the second semi-final result is irrelevant now.
“We’ve got two sides who will play in the grand final.”
Jamieson admitted it was premature to determine if the 40-point loss to the Saints had strengthened his side’s resolve.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
“I don’t know if that was the loss we needed to have. I guess we’ll find out.
“All we were after was a response. All we were after was another crack at them and we were able to get that.”
St Mary’s will be unchanged from the second semi-final, while St Joseph’s has also opted to carry the victorious preliminary final side into the big dance.
There’s stars on every line, with little separating the teams on paper.
“I think there’s two evenly matched sides,” Jamieson said.
“It’s going to be a cracker. In years gone by we’ve got into grand finals thinking there’s an outright winner, but I think you’ll find this year it’s pretty evenly poised.
“We go in knowing we’ve got the weapons to win the grand final, but whoever handles the pressure the best wins the footy game.”