Refreshed Pies primed for decider
Week off does North world of good
NORTH Geelong captain Tom Mathieson has revealed he was eager to go in unchanged against East Belmont to help settle the nerves of his players ahead of the GCA1 grand final.
The Magpies have kept the same 11 players that defeated the Lions in the qualifying final two weeks ago, with East Belmont bringing in Jack Jenkins at the expense of Noah Quick.
Mathieson said the week off ahead of the decider had been beneficial for a few “sore bodies” around the group.
“We had a pretty calm session, essentially just there to make sure everyone was feeling good body wise and mentally, it was nice to have the week off to refresh,” he said.
“I wanted the boys to know early in the week that we would be going unchanged just so everyone knew what we were doing and so we could prepare without players worrying about whether they’re in or not.
“You’ve got to find a balance in the training sessions, you’ve got to make sure everyone’s feeling like they’ve faced or bowled enough balls to go in confidently, but you also want to go in fresh.
“Looking at the weather East played in against Grovedale, it would’ve been a pretty draining kind of day with the wind and the heat, so to get that weekend off and give everyone a chance to refresh is an advantage I think.
“It’s a pretty long season, so that week off has really benefited us and hopefully it helps in the end.”
The grand final is set to be another chapter in a fierce and growing rivalry between the two sides, with North Geelong and East Belmont facing each other in the third successive grand final.
Mathieson said the Magpies, who had won the past two grand finals over the Lions, could not rely on past performances on Saturday.
“You can’t really look back at last year, we’ve both got a few different players running around,” he said.
“We’ve got a really healthy rivalry with them, we respect them and they’ve got some really strong Xfactors throughout their team, but so do we.
“So we need to go in confident otherwise you’re going to be on the back foot, but I think it’s going to be a really exciting game of cricket.”