Blow in Demons plan
Horsham coach Deek Roberts is set to lead the Demons into Wimmera Football League finals from the sidelines as he recovers from a broken leg.
The dynamic ball-winner suffered the injury in a contest during the third quarter against Minyipmurtoa at Minyip and sought specialist medical advice in Melbourne early this week.
He was one of several Horsham players across various grades at the weekend who went down with serious injuries. Two others suffered broken legs in junior games and an under-17 game was abandoned.
A disappointed Roberts, who had previously never missed a game with injury, said he remained confident the Demons would be able to cover his absence.
“We will be okay. It is just another case of someone needing to fill the role,” he said.
“We’ve moved on without a lot of players in the past. This is just another example. We’ll keep moving on and try to win this week.
“I’m waiting on news about how serious my injury is, but the expectation is that I’ll be out for the rest of the season.
“I’ll do everything in my power to get back if I can. I have played with a lot of pain before, but not with a broken leg.”
Top-of-the-ladder Horsham takes on Nhill on Saturday after beating the Burras by more than four goals.
Roberts, despite his belief in his team to cover his absence, is a major omission.
His injury places more responsibility on the likes of Brodie Mines and will tempt the Demons to push Ryan Kemp into more midfield battles.
But he is lucky that he has experienced Brad Hartigan in good form, John Wood kicking goals and Ben Lakin powering from half back.
Horsham also had willing Riley Williams, Will Deayton and Brandon Patterson impressing at the weekend.
Nhill might consider the circumstance an opportunity to jump the Demons, but would need to lift considerably after disappointment against Horsham Saints.
The Tigers were a long way behind the Saints at the final siren at Horsham’s Coughlin Park, despite the efforts of Ben Jones, Lochie Pilgrim and Toby Marshall.
Scott Hughes also kicked four goals but this week comes up against a miserly Demons defence.
Warriors?
Much of the league’s attention this weekend will zero in on matches at Stawell and Ararat.
Stawell, keen to hijack a last-minute spot in the final five, has to continually beat teams such as Southern Mallee Giants to make its plans happen.
The Warriors were comprehensive winners over Dimboola last week, their victory taking their streak to three in a row.
But they now meet the Giants, then War- rack Eagles, Minyip-murtoa and Horsham. Last week it was Cam Kimber, Tom Taurau, Sam Williams and Jackson Dark who won club awards for Stawell and David Andrivon kicked five goals.
The Giants were rolling strongly towards the finals before a bye last week and will be hard to beat.
Revealing contest
A contest in Ararat will provide revelations about both the Rats and visiting Minyip-murtoa.
It will measure how well Ararat can respond to a significant loss to Warrack Eagles and whether MinyipMurtoa can still challenge for a spot in the finals.
Third-placed Ararat found itself on the back foot early against the Eagles at Brim after a loss to the Giants, and could not make up lost ground.
Liam Arnott, Adam Haslett and Riley Taylor led the Rats, which almost managed to break even with the Eagles in the second half after the horse had bolted.
Minyip-murtoa also trailed in its match against Horsham all day, John Delahunty, Jay Mcgrath and coach Damian Cameron doing well as Brayden Ison kicked five goals.
Up-and-down Horsham Saints are attempting to find consistency before the finals and meet Dimboola after a solid win over Nhill.
The Saints are again at Coughlin Park, where they are always hard to beat.
Slick Sam Jasper collected six goals against the Tigers.
Jacob O’beirne and Sam Clyne were other familiar vote-winners last week and Jarred Combe kicked four goals in an important step-up game in attack.
Dimboola has had a tough year but was competitive for the first half against Stawell last week.
Elliot Braithwaite, Darcy Barber, Mick Pohlner and Shannon Keam won accolades and Justin Beugelaar, who the Roos would be keen to retain next year, pushed forward and kicked three goals.