SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
“We’re well placed for another assault on a top-four or better position.” President Colin Carter, December 2017 “We play footy to win premierships and that’s what I’ve come back for,” Gary Ablett, December 2017 “I am excited this year ... more excited than I have been in a long time about our opportunity.” CEO Brian Cook, March 2018 “I think our midfield is going as well as it has since 2011.” Coach Chris Scott, August 2018
Modewarre is the toast of the BFL after winning the footy and netball flags.
MODEWARRE has lived up to its billing as the best BFL netball side, claiming back-toback premierships against Geelong Amateur.
In front of a lively crowd at Drysdale Recreation Reserve, the reigning premiers cemented victory in a tug-of-war battle, eventually winning 34-30, after edging clear in a tense final quarter.
Warriors coach Matt Armstrong said it was not until the final seconds of the match he felt confident the game was in the bag.
“It was a really intense game. The scores were level at three-quarter time (25-25) and it was close to five minutes before anyone scored in the final quarter. It honestly wasn’t until the last minute where I knew we had it,” Armstrong said.
Both teams came out firing with scores level (7-7) at quarter time.
Modewarre created a twogoal lead at half time, which was quickly answered by an Ammos outfit focused on avenging last year’s 16-goal grand final loss.
With scores level at the final break, Ammos were the closest they had been to beating Modewarre all year, compared to three-quarter time margins in Round 7 (down by 14 goals) and Round 18 (down by two goals).
“At three-quarter time we knew we had nothing to lose,” Ammos coach Heidi Shaw said.
“We’d been beaten by them all year and we were still in it.”
Armstrong’s message at the final break was one of composure.
“I just told the girls to stay strong to our structures and to our beliefs. I knew if we did that and the cards fell right we were a good chance,” he said.
Armstrong said defence was the winning factor.
“It really was a game of defence,” he said.
“All over the court, even attacking players were putting significant pressure on the ball, which got us over the line.”
Goal defence Kathryn Vick- ers’s on-ball pressure generated turnovers and ultimately kept Ammos off the scoreboard for much of the final quarter.
“She got hands to everything,” Armstrong said.
“She made life hard for their attack. Her and Laura (McClelland) work beautifully together. We kept the highest scoring team in the comp to 30 goals.”
For now, Modewarre is just happy to bask in back-to-back grand final victories, but Armstrong believes with more hard work there’s “no reason” why the Warriors couldn’t challenge for a three-peat.
Ammos have now fallen short three times since their 2015 premiership against Torquay.
Shaw says she won’t stay on to coach next year, but she’s confident the core group will stay together.
“I walk away not disappointed. We played our best game so perhaps Modewarre were just the better team. It’s a great club and I expect the core group will remain the same and be back at it next year,” she said.