Michaela Meade
Whittlesea has all but earned another chance to develop its game and build its skills in Northern Football League’s division 1 next year.
The Eagles latest performance against Montmorency showed their development, according to coach Blair Harvey.
They won 107-104 against the Magpies, despite experiencing a bit of a shaky start.
“[The Magpies] kicked the first five goals against us, so it wasn’t looking too good in the first 15-20 minutes of the game,” Harvey said.
“But then our boys fought back really well.
“It was a really good result for our boys.
“They’ve been starved of wins throughout the year, even though we have been competitive.”
Harvey said the victory would give his team confidence for the run home and its preparation for the 2022 season.
“We’ve been competitive in a lot of games throughout the year,” Harvey said.
“We were able to put together our best side of the year.
“[The win against the Magpies] was reward for all the effort that we’ve been putting in.
“Even though it’s late in the year, it’s still important that we get some wins in the back end to finish off the season.”
Harvey said while the whole team has been performing well, making it hard to name standout players, the game against the Magpies showed the strengths of a few.
“This is the first time all year that I really could’ve put down any one of the players, as being the best players,” he said.
“There are a lot of standout players.
“Zach Molloy was really good down back [at the game on Saturday, July 31].
“Paul Higgins kicked seven goals up at full forward.
“Jack Wild went into the ruck after the 15 minute mark of the first quarter, and rucked the entire game.
“He changed the game for us, really.”
Harvey said the Eagles have set a very clear goal for the 2022 season; playing finals.
“Our plan always was, from 2018 to 2019, to get out of second division, and then consolidate in first division and, in our third year, hopefully, to play a finals game,” Harvey said.
“Even though we missed 2020 due to [the COVID-19 pandemic stopping the season], we haven’t changed our mission of what we want to achieve.
“We want 2022 to be a season we’ll be playing finals.”
