A 14-point lead at the final change was little comfort to Calder Cannons, knowing they’d have to fight both a strong Western Jets and a strong head wind to prevail in the TAC Cup match at Burbank Oval on Saturday.
But the Cannons survived the double whammy, holding on to win 10.9 (69) to 9.11 (65) and stay second on the table.
PICTURE GALLERY | Calder Cannons v Western Jets
Cannons coach Andrew Jago said it was pleasing to have a four-quarter performance against one of the competition’s other top sides.
“It was a close game with a really tricky breeze,” he said. “We had it in the first and third quarters; they kicked with it in the second and fourth.
“They’re a hard and disciplined side, so it was always going to be difficult.
“I have huge respect for the Jets and what Torin [Baker, Jets coach] has done with them. We knew we couldn’t be off our game.”
At the end, with the breeze at their backs, the Jets were held out by an impressive defence.
“Our workrate in the final term was massive,” Jago said.
“We knew we had to win and just couldn’t defend [our lead]. Our boys didn’t go back into their shells. We kicked the opening goal of the quarter and in the end it was an important goal.”
Roarke Smith was best on ground because of what Jago said was his workrate and ability to use his body to get the ball.
“He kept doing the little things, like having the ability to clear a path through traffic,” he said.
The Cannons could be set for a boost this week with its six players from the Vic Metro under-18 squad available for selection to face Sandringham.
Paul Ahern, Pete Wright, Matt Goodyear, Ben Allan, Touk Miller and Damian Cavka played in the final match of the national championships, with South Australia taking back-to-back titles.
Jago said they’d have to get through training first.
Ahern and Wright were chosen in the All-Australian team, made up of the championships’ best players.
“Paul [Ahern] has been the stand-out; he’s been more consistent,” Jago said. “He’s always done the flashy things but then would have down periods. Now he’s having more impact right across games,” Jago said.
“[Ahern and Cavka] have enhanced their prospects after starting the carnival with more questions about them than the others.”
Jago said he was relatively happy with how his players performed at the higher level.
“They worked hard enough to have one of our players named among the best each game,” he said.
