Hoppers Crossing regained its verve in a crucial 14-point win over Sunshine Kangaroos in Western Region Football League division 1 at Hogans Road Reserve on Saturday.
The Warriors could not be in a better frame of mind as they enter a difficult run to the finals, starting with top two clubs Deer Park and Spotswood in the next two rounds.
Warriors coach Steven Kretiuk was thrilled with the spirit of his players.
“The way they sung the song and the satisfaction they got from winning that game, it’s the first time this year I’ve seen that passion and spark in our game,” he said.
“Winning a game like that, hopefully it points us in the right direction for the next four weeks. There’s no tougher ask than next week, playing Deer Park, so we certainly need to make sure we’re turning up like we did this weekend.”
In a low-scoring game, Hoppers Crossing out-scored Sunshine eight goals to six.
Kretiuk believes it was an over-reaction to the conditions by both sets of players that caused the low scoring, not the conditions themselves.
“Sometimes at this level, you tend to focus too much on the wind, especially when you’ve got it,” he said.
“We played better against the wind than we did with it because there was a bit more focus on maintaining possession.
“Sometimes you tend to blaze away when you’ve got a five-goal wind behind you and you don’t worry about the execution so much.”
Hoppers Crossing’s win was kick-started in the middle of the ground.
Wayde Skipper was back to his best in the ruck and the Warrior midfielders feasted on the 50-50 contests.
“Last time we played Sunshine, they really towelled us up in that area,” Kretiuk said.
“We just had the desire to win the footy in that area this time.”
Adam Poland was a key reason Hoppers Crossing won the lion’s share of the contested ball. Poland has been “fearless” in his attack on the contest since moving to the midfield.
“He’s played a bit of midfield in the twos, but at senior footy we’ve played him as a forward,” Kretiuk said. “We chucked him in there because he puts his body on the line.”
Running machine Corey Muscat has enjoyed being let off the leash.
He was predominantly used as a tagger until recently, but now is one of the Warriors’ most damaging players.
“He’s probably our No.1 midfielder in terms of metres gained, work rate and high-intensity sprints,” Kretiuk said.
Hoppers Crossing’s defence was rock solid, keeping Sunshine to 13 scoring shots.
Jackson Viola and Daniel Nielsen commanded the air in the back half and were springboards from defence.
Ryan Kitchen, who has reinvented himself as a defender, shut down the dangerous Daniel Castellano, one of the league’s premier small forwards.
“Ryan had a reasonably good pre-season and we played him as a forward-wing earlier in the year,” Kretiuk said. “But he found it hard to have an impact, so he went back to the twos. We’ve brought him back in the seniors and thrown him into the backline. The change of role and position has suited him down to a tee He’s in career-best form.”
Hoppers Crossing’s win puts it in pole position for the third and last finals double chance.
