Eagles back on track
Newtown to make late play for finals
THE wheel is starting to turn for Newtown & Chilwell.
It’s taken more than a third of the year, and five defeats from seven outings, but Eagles coach Damien McMahon knows the momentum has shifted.
“No doubt, (the wheel is starting to turn),” McMahon said. “We’ve been building, but we haven’t been consistent, to be honest.
“We’ve played some really good footy. In the South Barwon game we were five goals up at one stage and lost by 13 points and they’re proving to be a decent team.
“Bell Park got us in a quarter, other than that, we won the other three quarters but Leopold got a hold of us, no doubt.
“We were no match for them from start to finish, but we’re definitely on the improve. We knew that we had a tough start, and to play Leopold this weekend — twice in seven weeks — is a bit unusual but that’s the way the draw is.
“But we’ve got a better run through the middle of the year and we’re pretty confident we’ll storm home and string some wins together.”
After three successive losses to start the season, the Eagles got their season back on track with a 100-point thumping of Geelong West Giants. Newtown then pushed South Barwon, fell agonisingly close to a major upset against Colac and hammered St Albans.
Now, with games against North Shore, Grovedale and Lara to follow Saturday’s clash against the Lions, McMahon believes his side can make a late play for a finals berth.
“That’s the aim,” McMahon said. “When we see how well South Barwon are playing, we feel we’re the equivalent to them with a young group and a sprinkling of senior players, and they’ve had a good draw early on and its set them up well.
“We’ve proven that we can play good footy, it’s just a matter of doing it for longer periods now. After playing half a dozen games together, we’re in a better position to do that moving forward.”