GCA squad is settled
COACH Brad Stacey says it’s important his GCA squad gets off to a flying start when it hosts Warrnambool in its opening Melbourne Country Week match on Monday.
A star-studded Geelong has been drawn in the blue pool and will also play Bairnsdale and West Gippsland in the opening rounds of the competition.
But with two wins not guaranteeing passage through to the semi-finals, Stacey is aware of just how important every win in the competition will be.
“With the system, the pool of four, (you need to) win as many games as you can early because not necessarily two wins will get you through to the semi,” Stacey said ahead of the match at Geelong Cricket Ground.
“You’ve got to try and win them all, realistically.
“It would be good to get off to a positive start against Warrnambool and have a win.”
The GCA finds itself in a strong position heading into the competition, with stability within the squad in recent weeks.
Captain Sean O’Neill will lead the team on Monday, while Andrew Fergusson (North Geelong, Richie Oliver (Geelong City), Andrew Hodgson (St Joseph’s), Andy Hughes and Dan Weigl (Lara) and Pat Richards (Leopold) all provide serious batting depth.
Chris Williams, Nick Lynch, Shaun Kingwell and Nick McGuane will all be crucial with the ball.
“There haven’t been any changes to the squad in the last two weeks which is sort of a bit abnormal. Normally there’s something that pops up, but it’s good,” Stacey said.
“We’ve got stability. We’ve got a couple of guys playing a couple of days.
“Tuesday (against West Gippsland at Camberwell), we’re limited to the 12 guys but we’ve got 15 in the squad. We’ve got 14 (available) on Monday, 15 on Wednesday (against Bairnsdale at Melbourne University) and 14 or 13 on Thursday (if we make the semi-final).”
Stacey said it would be crucial for the GCA’s bowlers to put pressure on Warrnambool’s top order.
“There’s a few dangerous players in there and we know the ones we have to keep an eye on,” he said. “They normally bat strong at the top, they have a couple of dashers at the top so they get away to a flyer and then go from there.”