It’s crunch time, kids

Veall vows to hit Comet young guns hard

FOOTBALL WELCOME to the big boys’ league.

Controversial Marlin Coast coach Stuart Veall has vowed to unleash hell on Southside Comets in the FNQ Football Premier Men’s grand final, insisting his side will “bully” the young guns out of the contest on Saturday night.

The once-outspoken coach has reined himself and his players in this season, but the compact Endeavour Park pitch has him licking his lips with a physical game plan.

“My players have been asking all year to play just a big, physical game of football and that’s what they’re going to get,” Veall said.

“I’m going to say to them ‘there’s no rules, away you go’.

“I’m just going to go in there and be the biggest bully I can all game, within the rules. We’ll try to keep 11 on the field.

“I’ve stood back this year deliberately. But this game I’ve got a small pitch, I’ve got the biggest team on the paddock. “It’s simple tactics.” He insisted he did not need to prove himself as a coach with a premiership trophy – just bringing the Rangers back to near the top of Cairns football has done that – but he still wants his players to pull out all the stops to win.

Veall said long-ball football was a key part of his game plan, as well as keeping opposition touches to a minimum.

“They’re not going to get any time on the ball to play their little football,” he said.

“They all come from an academy ... and my boys are going to crunch them.

“Every ball from everywhere will be a long ball into their area and then we’re going to outmuscle them.

“Because it’s such a little park, we will close them down very quickly to put them under pressure so they can’t play their football.

“So they’re going to have to come up with something else, something new.

“Because they’re kids, hopefully they won’t cope with the pressure. They won’t have been under pressure like I’m going to put them under.”

Southside Comets coach Chris Collins said his players would not be affected by whatever mind games Veall wanted to play.

It started last weekend with a post to the Comets’ Facebook page, where he was quickly shut down.

“Stuey can do what Stuey wants,” Collins said.

But it remains questionable just who is playing games the most.

Marlin Coast on Monday teed up Endeavour Park for Tuesday-night training, but arrived to find Southside already on the main pitch, leaving the Rangers to hit the No.2 field.