Drysdale look to break a 13-year BFL premiership drought against Torquay

With a relaxed midweek approach and high pressure game plan, a BFL coach is confident his team can harness a season-changing month to pinch its first flag in 13 years.

With a relaxed midweek approach and high pressure game plan, Drysdale co-coach Ben Carmichael is confident his Hawks can deliver the club’s first BFL senior premiership in 13 years.

Carmichael, a three-time premiership player across stints at the Hawks and Leopold in the GFL, said some healthy self-reflection on the edge of finals helped get his side to this point.

He would ask himself: how are we going to bridge the gap?

Until then, the Seagulls had beaten the Hawks convincingly both times – by an average of 48 points – while Torquay had their measure by 33 in Round 8.

“We’d lost to Barwon Heads by good margins both times,” Carmichael said.

“We’d lost to Torquay pretty easy when we played them at home.”

However, a lot has changed since.

Drysdale captain Mitchell McGuire and Torquay skipper Ben McNamara. Picture: Alison Wynd

A one-point win over the Tigers – Torquay’s only loss for the season – bolstered their confidence coming into September, as a James Breust point on the siren pushed the Hawks clear by the barest of margins in Round 17.

Crucially, Drysdale managed to keep the league’s leading goalkicker Lucas Anderson to just three majors, restricted by Hawks defender Nick Egan, although the Tigers had four more scoring shots.

“A win like that down there, it was just reassuring we were doing the right things,” Carmichael said.

It was a sudden rewriting of the BFL script, with the Tigers boasting a 69-point average winning margin during the home and away season.

Drysdale coach Ben Carmichael at three quarter time against Barwon Heads. Picture: Alan Barber

And the Hawks finally got their revenge on the Seagulls last Saturday at Grinter Reserve in a preliminary final; two clutch Jake Hargreaves goals seeing them home by nine points on their fourth attempt this year.

Now, Carmichael, who is not anticipating any changes to his squad before the weekdn, has called on his players to fully embrace the unique aspects of grand final week — the club’s first since 2013.

“We’re just trying to keep everything really simple, keep the players as relaxed as possible,” Carmichael said.

“Just enjoy the week.

“Everyone’s got their own style for preparation, we try and cater for that.

Ben Carmichael in a 2009 final against Portarlington. Picture: Alison Wynd.

“Sometimes you can get real upright, in grand final week ... just embrace everything.

“Take everyone along on the journey with you, especially your family and your friends.

“The most consistent thing in football has been your family and friends.”

Carmichael said the feeling was slightly different as a coach, after winning premierships with Drysdale (2009-10) and Leopold (2016) as a player.

“It’s a very similar feeling, but as a coach it’s probably more enjoyable,” he said.

“I’m just focusing on the team and what I can control as a coach.

“As a player, there was probably a bit more nerves.

“You want to go out and perform and you obviously want the result.”

Curbing the Tigers midfield

Torquay’s Charlie Ham was named in the BFL’s team of the year. Picture: Mark Wilson

The Tigers boast some dominant ball winners from former Geelong West star Baxter Mensch to the Ham brothers, Charlie and Sheldon, who were both named on the wing in the BFL team of the year.

Torquay also boast two defenders, captain Ben McNamara and Billy Henderson, who made the squad.

“They’ve got a lot of ball winners ... the two Ham boys, they’re super players,” Carmichael said.

“They’ve got a great complement of guys who can win the footy, outside guys who can use the footy well.

“The’ve got a really strong, consistent midfield, we’ve really got to control that.

“They’re beautiful by foot so we’ve got to bring that high pressure, and push them back and hopefully make them turn the footy over.”

Stopping Lucas Anderson

Drysdale kept Lucas Anderson to three majors in Round 17. Picture: Mark Wilson

The last time they played, Hawks defender Nick Egan helped keep Lucas Anderson to just three goals.

Carmichael is coy about who will get the job this time on the team of the year full forward on Saturday.

“We’re not sure who will play on him this weekend,” he said.

“He’s such a great player, he gets on the lead, he marks and he’s a beautiful kick ... he’s hard to stop.

“It’s more the pressure up the field (that is important), if our pressure is high we can limit the amount of good footy (they can play).

“They’re such great ball users, Torquay.”

The secret to their success in Round 17

Carmichael had a clear game plan against the Tigers last time they met in Round 17: take them as deep as possible.

Until that day in early August, only Queenscliff and Ocean Grove had arguably been within striking distance at three quarter time against Torquay: 18 points and 10 points respectively, only to lose.

The Hawks faced an 11-point deficit at McCartney Oval.

It helped that their heavy artillery of James Breust, Ben Fennell and Tom Ruggles – who were all named in the team of the year – combined for eight majors.

“Going into that game, we just wanted to take the game as deep as we could,” he said.

“Torquay had had a fantastic season, just put them in a situation where they hadn’t been before.

“We called on our experiences in close games and we train for it a lot as well.

“They sort of blew everyone out of the water (in 2023).

“We thought the longer we could take the game, we’d give ourselves a chance to steal it.”

Originally published as Drysdale look to break a 13-year BFL premiership drought against Torquay