Jacana players have proved a lot of people wrong in the Essendon District Football League, most of all their coach.
Aaron Collins told a club function midway through the season he didn’t think his side was good enough to make the division 2 grand final.
But his players made him eat his words on Saturday, when the Jaguars beat Roxburgh Park 13.9 (87) – 10.10 (70) to reach a grand final against Hadfield.
“It’s unbelievable,” an emotional Collins said straight after the game.
“They’ve worked so hard. They just deserve it.
“From where we have come from . . . we have been down, and to bounce back like this today is unbelievable.”
The previous time Jacana met Roxburgh Park, in the final round of the season, the Magpies had 17 scoring shots to four in the first half.
But this time the Jaguars jumped out of the blocks, with six goals to one in the first quarter.
“That was a massive focus this week,” Collins said. “Our first quarter was to just get away from them and really hurt them. They came back in the second quarter.”
The Magpies hit the front late in the second quarter after seven straight goals, the Jaguars only goal for the quarter coming from Chris Johnson after the siren.
“That goal was really important just to get everyone back on track,” Collins said.
“At half-time we just went through everything we’d worked on during the week.”
The second half started the same way as the first, with the Jaguars in charge.
“Our midfield stepped up and dominated the game,” Collins said. “I can’t remember the clearance numbers, but we smashed them. The midfielders worked hard and set us up and that’s what we expect from our midfielders. They’re our leaders and they did a brilliant job.”
Despite leading by 25 points at three-quarter -time, the Jaguars knew the game wasn’t over, as the Magpies were kicking to the end where 18 of the 21 goals had been scored.
“It was more about being patient,” Collins said.
“We’d been there before in leading close games. We’d had practice in tight games and we knew that if we stuck to our structures everything would be fine.
“They did that. They really wanted it. I didn’t even hear the siren.”
The Jaguars are expecting a tough match against runaway minor premier Hadfield at Windy Hill this weekend.
“There’s nothing to lose, so how good is that?” Collins said.
“Hadfield is a fantastic side but we’ll go in there thinking we can win it.”
