TIGERS DROP TO FIFTH SPOT
NEWTOWN & Chilwell coach Damien McMahon is refusing to get swept up in finals hype despite his side continuing its giant-killing run on Saturday.
The Eagles have surged back into the finals mix after a 49-point win over a previously fourth-placed Colac — its second upset win in as many weeks.
Following on from the Eagles’ shock 46-point victory over reigning premier St Joseph’s last week, Newtown has seemingly clicked into gear at the right time of the year.
Saturday’s victory over the Tigers was their fifth in a row and leaves the Eagles now just one win outside the top five in seventh place.
“The key to improving is to beat the teams above you on the ladder, and that’s what we’ve done in the last couple of weeks,” McMahon said.
“All the other teams we’ve beaten previously before St Joseph’s and Colac have been teams lower than us on the ladder, so it’s a positive for us that our game stacks up against good opposition.”
After crashing to a 2-6 record by Round 8 that left many thinking the Eagles’ season was over before it had the chance to begin, finals is now a realistic proposition with a favourable draw that features three games against sides below them.
But McMahon is not getting carried away yet, with crunch games against South Barwon (fourth) and Bell Park (sixth) looming large.
“It (finals) is certainly not at the forefront of my mind, we’ve just got to keep winning, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
“We might get there, but clearly the results above us on the ladder will dictate how we go.
“The great thing is we’ve got to play more teams above us on the ladder, like Bell Park and South Barwon as well who are in the five, who we are chasing hard after.”
The comfortable victory over Colac was a confident performance from start to finish, getting the early jump thanks to two first-quarter goals from Jacob Sharp (three goals).
Young guns Alex Cincotta and Mitch Diamond (three goals) also provided plenty of dash.
“Our overall pressure was the key. We tackled, we chased and hunted the opposition and did that for four quarters,” McMahon said.
“The consistency of effort was the pleasing thing for us. Everyone contributed — some of the guys that were really dominant last week like Sam Nichols (who) kicked eight last week and three today, but we still had a good win and spread the load a little bit.”