By Tyler Lewis
Grand final appearance: tick.
In his pre-game address, Narre Warren coach Shane Dwyer pointed to two unmarked boxes on the whiteboard.
The first: booking a spot in the Outer East Premier Division grand final.
And the second: winning it.
It didn’t come easy, but the Pies ticked the first box in Sunday’s second semi-final, overcoming a plucky Wandin outfit 15.14 (104) to 10.9 (69).
In his pre-game, Dogs coach Nick Adam asked his boys to channel the same relentless pressure and energy the Sydney Swans brought to the MCG on Friday night.
And his group delivered exactly that in the opening half, becoming just the second side to lead Narre Warren at the main break this season.
But things changed in the third term, and it wasn’t just Trent Cody ditching the new Nike’s for the trusty old ones… it was a different Pies side – an aggressively inspired one – led by Tom Toner, who had made his way from half back to deep forward.
It was Matt Suckling who took back the lead for Narre Warren, before Toner injected himself into the contest.
He hit a thick pack at a break-neck speed and gathered the Sherrin before it had even touched a blade of grass on his way to an open goal, before his second came from the paint of the arc – sending the Pies almost four goals adrift.
Jarrod Smith’s third and Jake Richardson’s first capped off a comprehensive third term that grossed six unanswered majors for the Maggies.
Each side added three goals in the final stanza to see out the match that saw Narre Warren book its fourth successive grand final appearance.
“We made a couple of moves and they seemed to work alright, they (his group) lifted their intensity,” Pies coach Shane Dwyer said of the third quarter.
“We started using the footy a bit better, it dropped away in the last quarter, but in the third, (Jake) Richardson had a super quarter.
“They actually played to instruction and it started working for us, it’s the stuff that has worked for us most of the year.
“It shouldn’t be any different to them, but it just clicked… we felt they (Wandin) were going as good as they could go, but we had another level to go to.
“He (Toner) played forward for us last year, we’ve only moved him back this year and he’s had a super year.
“It’s just handy knowing he can go both ends; we know he’s quick, he brings pressure, it just gives a totally different look.
“We were a bit quicker down there today then we have been, but it worked for us.”
There has been an expectation on the Pies this year, after such a prepotent home and away season.
But Dwyer feels there is less pressure on his side to succeed after their mid-season hiccup.
“You know the other team is going to come for you when you have had a pretty dominant year,” he said.
“But it probably would’ve been a lot more pressure if we hadn’t lost that game to Woori (Yallock).
“We didn’t feel that pressure, we just felt if we turned up to play as well as we can play, we think we will be okay.
“We didn’t do that in the first half, but credit to them (Wandin), they had a real red-hot crack.”
Jake Richardson, the player Dwyer judged best afield, felt the momentum shift on-field when the midfielders started to regain ascendancy.
“Probably after we kicked those first couple of goals,” he revealed.
“We got the first centre clearance and it would’ve been nice if I kicked that goal straight away, but I unfortunately missed it.
“We won that first centre clearance, then the second one and the third one, it felt like after that we had a lot of momentum.
“It sort of stalled a bit when the goal umpire fainted or whatever happened down there, I felt as though the momentum stopped a little bit.
“But after that we got another goal pretty quickly and we were all back up and running.”
The Pies delivered and in-your-face brand of footy in the third term, flexing their muscles over the ball.
While the physicality shift appeared to have inspired the Maggies, Richardson believes it was coincidental, and the reserves player’s cheering on behind the sticks was what inspired him.
“I think the other thing that helped was that we got a couple of goals and all the twos boys were behind the goals getting up and about,” he said.
“For me it really helps spur me on and I am sure the rest of the boys hearing them get up and about, helps them lift the rest of the team.
“In the first half they were probably all having showers and whatnot, they weren’t out there yet, but in the second half they were a lot more vocal which carried right across the ground.”
Wandin coach Nick Adam was pleased with his group’s output in the first half, but was saddened that they weren’t able to sustain it for the full four quarters.
“Some of the best footy we had played all year was in the first half,” he said.
“But we probably didn’t take full advantage of winning the territory battle in the first half.
“Narre Warren are a great team that hurt us on the scoreboard when they had momentum in the third quarter.”
Wandin will play Woori Yallock in the preliminary final on Sunday, after the Tigers defeated Olinda Ferny Creek 19.9 (123) to 10.15 (75).
The Tigers stormed out of the blocks in the opening half, piling on 12 goals to two heading into the main break.
The Bloods won the second-half by a straight kick, but the horse had long bolted.
Wandin and Woori Yallock’s rich finals history will gain another chapter this Sunday at Healesville with a place in the grand final at stake.
