CANNON POWER - TAC Cup Preliminary Final Day by Melon 22

Game One: Dandenong Stingrays v Calder Cannons

In a day full of surprise results the first surprise of the day for me was finding the Eastern Freeway completely blocked at Bulleen Road forcing me to miss the first quarter and a bit of the Dandenong Stingrays v Calder Cannons game.

When I did finally get to Visy Park, I was entertained by very high standard with game some very talented players on display.

Dandenong was on top early with its run from defence and its precise kicking was very impressive, while Calder looked a little a bit outclassed with Dandenong’s defence well on top.

At half time Dandenong had a handy lead of 17 points and, after Luke Parker kicked the first goal of the second half, Dandenong looked to have the running and appeared to be well on top of Calder.

However, Calder regained its composure and kicked a couple of goals in quick succession, the entire momentum of game changed with the Cannons making all the play and the Stingrays starting to miss targets. Calder went on to take a 8 point lead at ¾ time.

The final quarter was a continuation of the third with Calder kicking away with a Tom Lynch consolation goal the only major of the quarter for Graham Yeats' Stingrays who will be bitterly disappointed not to have made their third consecutive Grand Final.

One of the highlights of the match was the duel between prospective first round draft picks Matthew Watson and Tom Lynch in the second half.

While Lynch is the more athletic player, Watson made an impact on the contest to either get an important tap or make enough body contact to at least break even and to allow his teammates to come in for support.

Lynch started to push higher up the field the more Dandenong struggled to get the ball out of defence. Watson allowed him to run up the field and this gave the Cannons player the space to become an outlet for his team and allowing him to use his penetrating left foot to set attacks.

Late in the game Lynch was able to take a couple of contested marks on Watson and to kick a goal in what was a very even contest where both players had their moments of brilliance and showed why they are so highly rated.

Dandenong’s Luke Parker was playing well until he was involved in a nasty head clash early in the last quarter and was unable to return to the field. Up until that point, he was important in the stoppages with his bullocking work and clean hands around the contests. His ability to get forward and kick a goal was sorely missed in the last quarter by Dandenong and his absence was one of the reasons for a disappointing fade out.

The other player who impressed me but who wasn’t named in Dandenong's best was Jake Batchelor who was one of the few players who continued to run even when Calder was well on top. While he isn’t the most skilled player he gave everything to get his team back in the game.

For Calder, I was very impressed by defender Cameron Guthrie after half time when he provided some great run out of defence. His ability to win the contest and run off his opponent was crucial to turning the tide of the match towards his team's favour.

Luke Mitchell, the power forward for Calder didn’t have a big influence on the day but he continued to present all day and worked hard for his team which is one of his main strengths of his game and was important for the Cannons' structure.

The Bulldog-bound duo of Wallis and Liberatore were good without being outstanding. They were outshone by their Vic Metro teammate in Dion Prestia who got his team going and was Calder’s best player on the day.

Calder Cannons 2.2.14 4.6.30 9.9.63 13.13.91

Dandenong Stingrays 4.3.27 7.5.47 8.7.55 9.10.64

Goals

Calder Cannons Schroder 3 Kefford 2 Sullivan 2 Prestia 2 Mitchell Meli Guthrie Williams

Dandenong Stingrays Parker 2 Curren Lynch Elton Buntine Hallahan Tagg Treloar

Best

Calder Cannons Prestia Guthrie Sullivan Sheridan Ellis Williams

Dandenong Stingrays Elton Shiel Amalfi Treloar Gent Lynch

Game Two: Oakleigh Chargers v Gippsland Power

The Oakleigh and Gippsland match had very similar storyline to the first game. The Chargers started the stronger of the two sides and looked like the team most likely with more talent on the park than Gippsland. Potential first rounder Andrew Gaff and Tom Schneider were running rampant with Gaff’s kicking into forward line particular damaging.

Gaff was seemingly running on his own in the first half and he was ably supported by Max Otten, Sam Crocker and Alex Browne who were controlling the back half for Oakleigh.

After half time though it became the Dyson Heppell show who through his dominance got the other Gippsland boys involved. Jed Lamb started to get busy and Tim Northe and Dean McDonald (who played for Casey Scorpions during the year) kicked important goals to steal a win for the Power in what was a major upset.

Morrish Medallist Heppell was brilliant. His was one of the most dominant displays by one player in match that I have seen; he finished with 40 disposals, 9 clearances, 8 marks, 11 inside 50’s and 1 goal. What makes these statistics even more impressive was the fact the nearest Gippsland player had only 20 possessions. But it wasn’t just the quantity of the Heppell’s possessions- it was the timing, whenever Gippsland needed a mark or clearance Heppell would be there to make it happen and it was awesome to watch.

Lamb has tremendous pace and skill but it was his tenacity and his attack on the ball that impressed me the most. The desperation for the contest he showed in the last quarter was something that I hadn’t seen from him before. While his finals campaign has been okay, he is a big time player and I am looking forward to watching him on the big stage of the Grand Final.

The other player from the Power that impressed me was MacDonald who was competitive across half forward. He has a penetrating right foot kick which he used affectively for two goals.

For Oakleigh the clear for me was Schneider, even though he strangely wasn’t even named in the official best he picked up 40 possessions and was the one player in the last quarter who was uncompromising at the contest for Oakleigh when some of his team mates had dropped off. While his disposal isn’t the best, his ability to get the footy isn’t in doubt and he capped off a wonderful finals series where he had 44, 32 and 40 possessions in three games.

Gaff’s first half was great switching between a midfield and forward role he was an important link man and got a lot of the ball. But alarmingly when the game started to turn in Gippsland’s favour he went missing and wasn’t able to influence the contest enough. I still thought it was his best game of the finals campaign and to finish with 30 touches in a preliminary final is good performance.

Otten was very important for Oakleigh in the first half with his composure and run off half back but like a lot of his team mates his influence after half time was diminished.

So it's on to the grand final where two unlikely opponents are pitted against each other. At the end of the regular season Gippsland was 6th and Calder 7th.

Oakleigh Chargers 4.4.28 8.6.54 10.8.68 14.9.93

Gippsland Power 2.5.17 4.8.32 8.13.61 14.20.104

Goals

Oakleigh Chargers Johnson 4 Gordon 2 Crocker Batsanis Gaff Tomlinson Karnezis Tyson Schneider Michie

Gippsland Power Wyatt 2 MacDonald 2 Northe 2 Deery 2 Hoghton Bugg Smith Salton Heppell Lamb

Best

Oakleigh Chargers Cassidy Johnson Gordon Crocker Gaff Harris

Gippsland Power Heppell Lamb Northe Wyatt Deery Ross

TAC Cup Match Report: Calder Cannons vs. Dandenong Stingrays

TAC Cup Match Report: Oakleigh Chargers vs. Gippsland Power

i was impressed by tom sullivan, kid has an amazing tank, highlighted by his chase and tackle, for holding the ball and goal, if only the kid was a little bit taller

Whilst belated a good accurate report on the game.I agree with your thoughts on Batchelor as well- differ a little re the clash of Watson/Lynch.I thought the way Watson put him out of business in the second half was astoundind.Watson, nephew of Steve Allesio is one of the best readers of the game I have ever seen for a tall backman similar to Hurley when he played under 18's. However,I feel Watson has more upside re fitness,strength etc..a ready made footballer though whilst Lynch is a few years away.Actually, I felt Johnson -from Oakleigh was the star forward on the day.I also saw him star as a CHB for Vic Metro earlier n the year- a real smokie he is.