DRAGONS EYE RIVALS
BELL Park is well placed for a tilt at a second premiership in three seasons, according to vice-captain Jamie Spiller.
Speaking ahead of his 200th club game for the Dragons, keeper-batsman Spiller believes Saturday’s win over contender Geelong City only enhanced his side’s flag credentials.
“Our aim is to win a premiership and everyone is striving towards that,” he said.
“You’ve got to put in the hard work early and get yourself in a position to get there because you never know what can happen with weather and you don’t want to be chasing your tail.
“As (coach) Mick Lymer always says, you’ve only got to play good cricket for those few weeks (in March), if you make it, and anything is possible.
“Marshall finished fourth last season and they won it.
“They were the better side for the last few weeks and they walked away with the medals.”
Bell Park moved to outright top spot on the ladder following the four-wicket win over City — its fifth in the regular season and seventh across all formats.
“We’ve got the results on the board and we’re going OK,” Spiller said.
“There’s patches in the field where we drop off and we’ve had mini collapses with the bat.
“On the weekend we lost a couple of quicks wickets early and there’s always room for improvement, but we’re going as well as we could be.
“Mick wanted us to have a big month before Christmas and we’ve made the T20 grand final, we’ve knocked off City, who are one of the better teams in the comp after coming down from Division 1, and we’re on top of the ladder.”
The Dragons face another stern test on Saturday, meeting bitter rival Torquay at Hamlyn Park.
The Tigers bounced back last round after a lean period, trouncing Manifold Heights.
“They’ve lost a few players but they are still a very good side,” Spiller said.
“We’ve got to be on our game, because if we’re not, they will get us. That’s the thing about this season.
“We’ve had a bit of history with them . . . the grand final a couple of years ago and the T20 grand final as well, so it’s always good playing against Torquay.
“There’s no love lost, there’s always bits and pieces going on, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
Adding to the significance of the match, Spiller, 26, will celebrate his 200th match.
He started with Bell Park in the under-15s and made his first XI debut for the Dragons as a 15-year-old in 2009-10.
“I started playing fourths with my old man and then I went into the thirds,” Spiller said of his senior induction.
“I made some runs in the threes and I got put up to the twos, then someone pulled out of the ones and I pretty much went straight from the thirds to the ones in a week.”
It was a baptism of fire for Spiller, who was part of the team that was bundled out for 29 against Waurn Ponds in Round 6.
“We were a very young side,” he said.
“Mitch Trask was playing, Tom Mathieson was in the side and the pitch was a bit sticky.
“That was back when Waurn Ponds were really good. They had a few good bowlers and they got on top of us.”