By David McPherson
Everything will come down to 120 minutes of football. Four quarters of blood, sweat and tears – to the winner goes the spoils.
That is, unless, the match ends in a draw like it did when the two clubs faced off in round four earlier on this year, in which case more time may be required.
The two powerhouse clubs have almost been inseparable this year, with the latest battle between the Tigers and Eagles ending in a three-point semi-final win to Vermont.
Balwyn captain Rennie Gilchrist insists that giving up an 18-point final-change lead in that encounter has not rattled his team heading into this weekend’s all-or-nothing face-off.
“It didn’t shake us too much. Losses are really good because that’s when you review games and look at areas that you were poor in so you can improve the next week which is what we did,” he said.
Gilchrist says the Tigers will draw upon their wealth of experience in the heat of battle to ensure the team says composed in the crucible of finals intensity.
“Obviously in the grand final there’s more pressure around and more on the line of course, and usually the team who wins is the team who is most composed. It’s about relaxing, knowing how to play and sticking to our processes and trusting one another throughout that 120 minutes,” he said.
“I think experience is just good for knowing what to expect from grand finals and knowing how to win I guess. It’s a certain confidence that the guys around you are going to do their all to win because they’ve done it before.”
Gilchrist highlighted the importance of winning the midfield battle in the Tigers quest to get their claws on the cup.
Jackson Weatherald during the EFL 1st Division Seniors 2015 Preliminary Final between Balwyn and Vermont at Bayswater Oval.
“It’s always won or lost in the midfield and that encompasses skill level, stoppages, transition ball movement and executing pressure,” he said.
“Whichever midfield can get on top and have more of an influence will probably win the game.”
Balwyn will enter Saturday on the back of three consecutive finals games, all decided by a margin of less than six goals. Despite the full schedule, Gilchrist insists that his team is full of run and ready for the fight.
“We’re all pretty fresh. We’ve been recovering really well on Tuesday nights and doing extra sessions on Sunday as well so the boys are feeling really good.”
In contrast, Vermont enters the game with just one finals appearance under its belt having finished atop the ladder and earning direct advancement to the grand final with its semi-final win.
Eagles’ captain Tim Johnson isn’t a subscriber to the belief that the difference in pre-game preparation will alter the outcome of the match, although he did admit that the breaks meant two less opportunities for injuries to pile up.
“There’s a couple of ways to look at it [the week off]. There’s always the school of thought that hopefully we’re going to have fresh legs and that sort of thing and be running on top of the ground, but then I guess the flipside is we haven’t played a lot of game time in the past three weeks,” he said.
“I think ultimately it doesn’t make too much difference in the end. It’s just going to be about who can start well and then maintain their pressure and intensity around the ball.”
Johnson won’t be fuelled by a desire for revenge on Saturday after the Eagles were knocked out of last year’s finals race by Balwyn, saying instead that he felt the lure of a premiership medallion more strongly.
Joel Perry tackles Liam Frazer during the EFL 1st Division Seniors 2015 Preliminary Final between Balwyn and Vermont at Bayswater Oval
“For us we’re going to go just as hard at Balwyn as we would be if Noble Park had been the ones to get through or any other team. I think what’s on the line – winning a premiership – far outweighs who your opposition is and any motivation you get from beating a specific opposition.”
The key to success for Johnson and his team involves simply going about business as usual. “I think that when we’ve had success against Balwyn this season we haven’t necessarily invented anything new or done anything differently to how we’ve played other teams and other games,” he said.
“In the semi-final we were just able to do the things that we wanted to do but do them for a bit longer and that was the difference in the end.”
“You look for, especially from an outside perspective, something spectacular or something unusual that’s going to win a game of footy, but most of the time in big games it’s just doing the little things well. Things like sticking your tackles and applying good pressure throughout the game and obviously taking opportunities in front of goal.”
When the teams are this close, and the outcomes of 113 games are already in the books, the season may come down to just one of those little moments. Every bounce of the ball can lead to harrowing defeat or exaltation. Every tackle, every pressure act and every opportunity in front of goal provides the chance for someone to put full stop on the season that was.
The question now is just to whom the opportunity will fall, and if they will take it with both hands.
