Miners strategise minus line up

By Stuart Teather
THEY may have been resting most of their starting line-up, but the Berwick Miners still put in a cracking performance in their final round Gridiron Victoria match-up against Croydon Rangers on Saturday.
While the Miners went down 33-26, they fielded a second-string side against a full-strength Rangers side, as both sides had already secured berths in the finals.
Miners’ coach Darren Shaw was rapt with the strength of his back-up players.
“We basically used it as a trial for different things leading up to the semi-finals, and gave our second stringers a good run,” he said.
“We tried a different format on offence, and it really worked… The day was all positives, I know we lost, and you always play to win, but winning wasn’t our main priority.”
Franco Devivo took over quarterback duties from Sam Walker, and Shaw said his performance against the Rangers would put pressure on Walker to perform.
“Franco played quarterback in college in America and he performed well (against the Rangers) so now Sam has some competition for his spot.”
Nick Vlad had two touchdowns, one off a pass and another off a running play, retiring veteran Dale Warren and Devivo getting one each.
Shaw said the win sent a warning to the Rangers, a potential grand final opponent.
“The Rangers — they were in disbelief with how far we pushed them — they had their best side out there.”
A grand final berth is still a long way off, however, with the Miners facing ladder leaders Monash University Warriors in the semi-finals.
Shaw said he expected the Warriors to bring a different offensive game from the last time the two sides met, where the Warriors got up 15-12 in a thrilling encounter.
“They put in a spread offence with four wide receivers, so they’ll be looking to pass a lot.
“I think either we’re going to win it, or they’ll absolutely flog us … there’s no place for an honourable loss in the semi-finals.”