SFNL: Dingley full back Alex Windhager has won the praise of his coach after an ‘unselfish’ game
Dingley is off to a flyer in the Southern league Division 1 finals, ignited by an ‘unselfish’ defender. See a gallery of pics from the Dingoes’ strong win.
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He wasn’t named in the best and he didn’t stuff the stat sheet.
But Dingley coach Zach Horsley has labelled star full back Alex Windhager and as one of the reasons the Dingoes are one win away from a sixth grand final in 10 years.
Windhager, returning from an ankle injury that has sidelined him since round 12, went to dominant full forward Matthew Kreymborg.
Kreymborg has kicked 50 goals this year, including match-defining four majors against the Dingoes last weekend.
But Windhager kept the Doggies’ captain goalless for the first time this season as his team recorded an 8.11 (59) to 4.9 (33) victory.
Horsley said it had been a “long six or seven weeks without Windy”.
“Getting him back in that customary full back role where he is an unselfish player and just take out his opponent, I thought he did a fantastic job on Kremma,” he said.
“He (Windhager) was able to keep him goalless which is probably one of the few times that’s happened this year and obviously the week before he kicked four and we felt he was a major source of offence for St Paul’s.
“We put some things in place to stop him and the number one thing Windy had to do was go and execute and that’s what he did.
“Obviously he was well supported by the inclusions of (Kristen) Feehan and (Michael) Dolan.”
When asked where Windhager ranked among the best defenders in the competition, Horsley said “he is the best”.
While the win does have the Dingoes a four-quarter performance away from another grand final berth, it was a timely win for a relatively new group.
Dingley went out in straight sets last year and hadn’t defeated St Paul’s McKinnon or Cheltenham heading into Saturday’s final.
After being down at every change at the weekend, the Dingoes finished hurried home to secure the strong win and “inject a lot of belief”.
“It was pretty straight post game, there was a lot of guys weren’t really going to sit down and enjoy the moment but I think you’ve got to enjoy those big wins,” Horsley said.
“You never know when your next finals win might be, hopefully it’s this week, but for a predominantly young group, yes, we’ve got some experienced guys but there were a lot of guys who hadn’t won a lot of finals.
“It was important for us to tick that box as a group and move forward with a clear mind and process to go forward with.”
The Dingoes now tackle old-rival Cheltenham for a direct path through to the Southern league Division 1 decider.
The Rosellas have won both encounters this year by an average of five goals.
Jack Lonie got ahold of the Dingoes in round 2 and VFL-Tiger Austin Johnson ran amok in round 10.
Horsley said the Dingoes have been waiting for another chance at Cheltenham and has vowed to take the challenge on full steam.
“I think we’ve had really good battles with Cheltenham this year,” he said.
“We wanted to have an opportunity to play against them in finals when the game really matters and this week we get that opportunity.
“We get to see where we’re at, obviously they’re a good outfit and Pickers (coach Justin Pickering) has them structured up well.
“We’re not going to shy away from the opportunity that’s ahead of us, we’ll take the game on and see what we can do.”
The loser of Dingley and Cheltenham takes on the winner of St Paul’s McKinnon and Cranbourne.
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