Langwarrin prepared to take risks as its season reaches the make-or-break stage
LANGWARRIN intends to take risks as it tries to revive its flagging season in MPNFL Division 2.
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LANGWARRIN intends to take risks as it desperately tries to revive its flagging season in MPNFL Division 2.
The Kangaroos — in eighth spot, two games out of the five — are at a critical stage when they host Tyabb at Lloyd Park on Saturday.
After beating Chelsea three weeks ago to loom as a finals prospect, the Kangaroos have lost their past two games (to Dromana and Hastings).
RELATED: Jesse Murphy slots seven goals as Langwarrin edges Chelsea
On Saturday, Langy co-coach Blake McCormack is going to “roll the dice’’ and return early from a calf injury.
“I’d rather do my calf again knowing I had a crack trying to make finals rather than sitting on the fence resting and then we drop another one and the season’s over pretty much because that’s what it’s come down to,’’ McCormack said.
McCormack will be a straight swap for defender Luke Churcher who went down with a hamstring before half time last week.
But the big question is, “will Jesse Murphy play?” The Langwarrin spearhead, who has kicked 34 goals this season, strained his hamstring last week and has been doing all he can during the week so he will come up on Saturday.
McCormack conceded it’s crunch time for the Kangas.
“If we don’t win this week everything we’ve done since October we will p..s it down the drain because you’ll lose all your supporter base and it will be hard to climb back up the ladder.’’
Langwarrin’s opponent on Saturday, Tyabb, is coming off an impressive 32-point win over Devon Meadows.
The game is only Langy’s fourth home game this season – they won the other three.
The match of the round on Saturday will pit third-placed Chelsea against second-ranked Karingal at Beardsworth Ave.
It will be familiar territory for Karingal coach Brett Dunne, who coached Chelsea for two years before crossing to the Bulls this season.
“I’m glad they (Chelsea) are going really well,’’ Dunne said.
“A lot of the young guys who struggled a few years ago are now really good senior players so it’s good seeing them succeed.’’
Dunne has Karingal flying. The Bulls have won six on the trot.
“We’re just trying to get ourselves in that top five. We are four games clear of sixth now…with nine to go,’’ he said.
The last time Karingal played finals was in 2012 when Brendan Dunne was coach.
Chelsea last played finals in 2011, under Jason Chapple.
Karingal’s David “Buddha’’ Hirst is unlikely to play after sustaining a quad injury last week, while the Bulls will welcome back Stephen Charalambous in the reserves.
Dunne said Charalambous could be a possible inclusion in the senior side in the coming weeks.
“Most people would say we are a bit top heavy and slow,’’ he said. “If we can put Chara in, he will give us the speed we need.’’
In Division 1, plenty of interest surrounds the Edithvale-Aspendale versus Bonbeach game at Regents Park.
Back in round one, Edi-Asp beat Bonbeach but subsequently had the win taken off them after an investigation revealed they had breached the player-points cap (exceeding the ceiling of 39 points).
It was Bonbeach which alerted the league to the possible breach.
Saturday’s games:
Division 1: Mornington v Rosebud, Seaford v Pines, Edi-Asp v Bonbeach.
Division 2: Chelsea v Karingal, Dromana v Crib Point, Devon Meadows v Rye, Langwarrin v Tyabb, Pearcedale v Hastings, Somerville v Red Hill.
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