GROUND BEEF
Joint plan to move BPCA grand final blocked
A RULE disallowing “home” grand finals has been slammed as “ridiculous” after Jan Juc and Anglesea agreed to play the BPCA A1 decider at Anglesea, only to be blocked.
The marquee BPCA clash will be played at Inverleigh on Saturday, despite the clubs coming together and requesting it be moved to Anglesea.
Jan Juc waved away any concerns about home-ground advantage and the two clubs were set to split bar takings 50-50 but the BPCA said no. BPCA president Ian Caldwell confirmed the clubs had made the request and said the association executive was following rules introduced within the past three seasons. The Roos did not put their ground up for a grand final during mid-season applications.
The rules allow the BPCA executive to choose venues for grand finals, with no home games allowed, and travel factored in.
Anglesea and Jan Juc will be forced to travel about 40 minutes to get to Inverleigh Recreation Reserve, with the Sharks to organise a bus for fans.
Jan Juc captaincoach Jordy Graham (right) said given both clubs agreed, the game should have been moved to the ground voted the best on the Bellarine by captains in an Addy poll conducted before the season.
“(The BPCA) said, ‘you can’t have a home final’, so it looks like we are off to Inverleigh, it is a bit ridiculous when both clubs agreed and were happy to do it,” Graham said. “I spoke to (Anglesea president Brett Venables on Sunday) night and put it forward, but we were told it is a black-andwhite rule that you can’t have a home final. “Inverleigh is in pretty good condition itself, it is a good ground and they have their new clubrooms open.
“We are not too fussed about it but we would have been happy to play it at Anglesea.”
GEELONG star Patrick Dangerfield is feeling confident going into round 1 for the first time in multiple seasons after shaking off injuries that curtailed his previous summers.
The midfielder-forward played full minutes in Geelong’s AAMI Community Series game against Gold Coast, showing some of his trademark acceleration and stoppage work in the loss.
Despite playing 37 games across the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, the Brownlow medallist was not at his best after falling behind during the summer months.
This year, Dangerfield has been able to put in the hours on the track for a strong base before Saturday’s season opener against Essendon.
“I think the thing with preseasons is they are hard to fake,” he said.
“You are either on the deck and you are putting in the minutes and kilometres in pre-season or you are trying to catch up, so that is the difference. It is nice to be able to get back out there and compete and put in the work to feel confident going in (to the season).
“For the vast majority of our group, we have completed most of pre-season and come Saturday there are no excuses.”
Fellow vice-captain Tom Stewart has also enjoyed a strong pre-season alongside Dangerfield and the threetime All-Australian revealed he would have put his hand up to play if the Cats made the grand final last year.
The defender missed the finals with a foot injury but was working away to regain fitness if his team made it past Melbourne and into the decider.
The Cats were crushed in that preliminary final, but if the result was reversed the star half-back would have given himself every chance to compete for a flag.
“It’s a fantastic hypothetical, I gave myself every chance,” Stewart said.
“Whether that is the right or wrong thing to do, I would have put my hand up probably but ultimately the decision was taken away from me.”