EDITION 20 $2.50 SSYDNEYYDNEY SSWANSWANS VVSS EEASTLAKEASTLAKE DOWNLOAD YOUR FAVOURITE TEAMS WALLPAPER! http://www.coordinate.com.au/AFLC/aflcanberra.html inside The GM’s Report 4 AFL Canberra Limited Bradman Stand Manuka Oval Final Series Week 2 6-8 Manuka Circle ACT 2603 PO Box 3759, Manuka ACT 2603 Ph 02 6228 0337 The Old Flame 9 Fax 02 6232 7312 Finals Week 1 10 Publisher Coordinate PO Box 1975 Marist link helping to drive WODEN ACT 2606 Ph 02 6162 3600 Eastlake’s finals run 11 Email [email protected] Neither the editor, the publisher nor AFL Canberra accepts liability of any form for loss or harm of any type however caused All design material Mulrooney’s Magic Monday Night 12 in the magazine is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of Coordinate. Matthews leaves on his own terms 14-15 Seniors 20-21 Editor Reserves and Under 18s 22 Jamie Wilson Ph 02 6162 3600 Email [email protected] Designer Logan Knight Ph 02 6162 3600 Email [email protected] Photography Andrew Trost Email [email protected] FINALS vs Manuka Oval, Sun 7th September, 2pm www.coordinate.com.au In the box with the GM david wark And then there were three…. Two enthralling games were played at Manuka The Demons could well be full of good blokes but Oval last week. Belconnen advanced through to the they know have a hunger for the contest that would Grand Final with a last quarter blitz against a cou- make every past player proud. rageous Swans outfit and Ainslie were eliminated by a genuinely tough Eastlake unit. The Swans were equally impressive in defeat on Saturday. Several of their leaders played in a man- So we have the Demons facing off against the ner that exuded quality in terms of their athletic Swans for the right to play the Magpies. prowess but also in their professionalism and atti- tude. The rules clearly handicap them but again the The form of the two teams will be discussed leadership and passion was abundant. The game on in detail elsewhere but both were impressive Sunday should be a classic. in different ways last weekend. The Demons, as you would expect from a team with smart The other topic of high interest is the Mulrooney leaders, leaned their lessons from their 2007 Medal on Monday night. Knowing the winner I have finals capitulation and approached their contest to be careful with my words. The 200 strong crowd Congratulations-Cong it’s all about you! Thanks to the with an entirely different attitude. Unexpected will have an entertaining night that will be an ap- CanberraCanb Labour Club this week’s “face in the crowd” match-ups, clear game plan for the conditions propriate start to the biggest week on our football winnerwinn receives a meal voucher to use at any of the Labour and an approach at the ball that was fierce and calendar. consistent. ClubClub venues. The winner must present themselves at one ofof theth Labor Club venues, prove they are the person circled in theth above picture (each reception area will have a copy ofof thisth photo) and the meal voucher will be sent to you. Proud sponsor of AFL Canberra www.laborclub.com.au Chandler Street BelconnenPetrie Plaza, Canberra City Lhotsky Street in Charnwood Teesdale Close (just off Fremantle Drive in Stirling). SYDNEY: EASTLAKE: Brendan Murphy – shoulder, unavailable Jake Gumly – test, ankle Nick Davis - indefinite Daniel Ford – available Peter Faulks - indefinite (late withdrawal last week Brett Meredith - indefinite through illness) Daniel O’Keefe - indefinite Tim Schmidt - indefinite Kristin Thornton - indefinite SYDNEY Ryan Brabazon has played footy at the highest level this year but now he is needed to help Sydney as they seek a fourth successive premiership cup. Brabazon has shown good form this year, but will need to find it quickly after a short absence. His work around the stoppages and in the midfield will be crucial to Sydney moving the ball forward and kicking a winning score. EASTLAKE The Demons will be looking to match Sydney at the contests and Peter McGrath is going to be crucial in trying to achieve this goal. The 27 year old has played enough games to understand his role thoroughly and is in the prime of his career. Alongside Nathan Clarke, McGrath’s rotations through the midfield are going to have to be effective in denying Sydney first use of the footy and moving Eastlake into the Grand Final. SYDNEY The Swans may have more than one wildcard in their deck this week. With only 12 players from their squad allowed this week, a top-up player may be the secret weapon that cracks the game open for Sydney. Jordan Forster had played once prior to last week but has impressed coach Brett Allison. Last Last weekend’s results told two different stories about the path these two sides will take week he was moved onto Belconnen’s Andrew Ainger at full-back however leading into the preliminary final. For Sydney their quest at four consecutive flags appears there is talk that Forster may return to his more favoured role as a forward this week. to be drawing to an end. The Swans were dismantled by a Belconnen side that are keen to make amends for back to back premiership losses in 2005 and 2006. Season 2008 has been a Another wildcard is Matthew O’Dwyer. His recent form hasn’t been up to the rollercoaster ride for the Swans who have struggled to string back to back wins together late standard which saw him debut for the senior side earlier this year. However his rotations from half-back through the midfield to the forward line, and back into the year. again, will be vital for the Swans on Sunday. For Eastlake they showed true fight as they overcame Ainslie in what was a harsh, wet and EASTLAKE windy day. They led from the front and held strong deep into the fourth quarter, never giving Matt Dean has only played 11 games up until Sunday’s game however the their opponents a chance to steal their thunder. Eastlake’s season thus far is shaping up to be small pacey forward shares a solid working relationship with key forward a bit of a fairytale. The Demons managed to hold out Queanbeyan for a place in the top four and Stafford Cooper. Dean has kicked a handy 13 goals during his time in the senior side this season and will be looking to crumb many more to try and with a spirited victory over Ainslie in their first final, they will be full of confidence and looking snare a Demons victory. to keep their winning formula in tact. Eastlake has had the wood on the Swans this year beating last year’s premiers on two out of three occasions. Eastlake is doing everything in their power to reduce the toll of last week’s physical encounter in the wet, with the team undergoing intensive recovery sessions. Plus the Swans have not travelled well this season. But while Sydney hurts after last week’s loss, will the preliminary final be the moment they take to redeem themselves or will the Cinderella story of 2008 advance to the Grand Final? “We’ll just be going out there and trying to do our best on the day “Recovering quickly from a hard match is a lot better nowadays and if we can play to the best of our ability then we can’t whinge than it was years ago. By last night at training they were pretty or have any regrets, the other result of the game should take well back and by tomorrow night they will be fit and ready to go care of itself. It should be a good encounter, they got us both for Sunday.” times in Canberra so if you read the form guide and the games in Canberra I suppose they would be starting favourites.” “Once you get passed that stage you sort of take the positives that a tough match like that is good for us. It really is good for “We haven’t had a good record at all in the nation’s capital but not just winning obviously, but the attitude of the players, the it’s hard to put a finger on it. They’ve got to come down and they way they went about it. I was thrilled with the way our blokes stay in hotel beds rather than their own beds so really their approached that game in those difficult conditions.” preparations is fairly different to what they do when we are playing in Sydney. So maybe that has something to do with it “Sydney Swans will be very difficult to beat even though they’ve otherwise I can’t really put my finger on it.” got a lot of top-ups they’ve got a core of very good players and we’re not underestimating that at all. I think the players “There are couple of handy players that would probably become would have confidence now, we’ve beaten them a couple of available for the senior team in Goodes and Ryan O’Keefe… our times this year and after Sunday’s performance I think there numbers at the moment are pretty healthy, I think we have 16 or is a confidence there that we can have a real go at it. We’re not 17 to choose our 12 from so we’ve got to make those decisions getting ahead of ourselves, it’s a tough ask, but I’m confident about who is playing and who is not in the next coming days.” we’ve got the right mindset now given where we have come from earlier in the year.” The Demons were victorious in the two clubs’ last “You just need to ignore it and focus on what you can encounter, a five point thriller in round fourteen.