WRFL: Albanvale outclass Suns behind Daniel Backus’ strong form

Albanvale are never out of a game in season with a staggering scoring record in last quarters as a Cobras star puts himself right in league medal contention.

Albanvale’s belief it is never out of a game is only growing.

The Cobras have won all six of their last quarters this season but none were bigger than its come from behind 7.4 (46) to 6.9 (45) win over fellow WRFL Division 3 premiership contender Suns on Saturday.

They’ve kicked a resounding 33.20 to 9.13 in the final 30 minutes of games against all opponents.

Against other teams inside the top four, Albanvale has kicked 10.4 to 6.8.

Cobras coach Andrew Bryson said his side’s ability to finish games strongly was one of the reasons they remain as the competition’s only undefeated side.

“We’ve been able to build that belief of being able to win games even if we’re behind in the last quarter,” he said.

“We knew we had the ability but having that confidence is another thing. I thought it was fantastic we were able to stand up under the pressure of a big game.

“Against Sunshine Heights a few weeks ago, we were four goals down with about eight minutes to go and managed to win by a couple of points.

“From there, we’ve been growing as a unit and we’ve put ourselves in a really strong position.”

Daniel Backus has been in sensational form for Albanvale. Picture: Andy Brownbill

While Bryson paid credit to his team for an even performance across the ground, it was again hard to ignore the form of Daniel Backus.

The Cobras star was named the best player on the ground for the second week running.

He has been named in the best four times this season and looms as a league medal fancy later in the year.

Dalwinder Mundi, Daniel Montrose, Reece Duffield, Darren Borg and Brendan Cassar also performed strongly.

“Daniel is one of those players where you know what you’re going to get every week,” Bryson said.

“He’s an absolute workhorse for us and is always hard at the footy.

“He has improved his ability to get forward and that was shown by him kicking a really important goal for us later in the game.”

Despite having just one goal to their name at halftime, Bryson said the players refused to panic as they only trailed by 12 points.

He said his side “needed more talls and marking options” across half forward as they looked for a way to break into the contest.

The changes included Nathan Johnson being moved further up the ground and it worked wonders as he finished with two goals.

“We didn’t have any presence across half forward in the first half,” Bryson said.

“We knew we had enough of the footy to score we just had to change a couple of things.”

Dalwinder Mundi was among Albanvale’s best. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Bryson also sung the praises of the Suns saying he expects to face off in more crunch clashes later in the year.

“It was a good game of footy from the start,” he said.

“I think we match up really well. I”ve got a lot of respect for (Dean) Cachia as a coach and the way he has been able to set them up.

“We knew they were missing a few but we were as well.

“Both sides will have areas they want to improve on and we’re looking forward to playing them later in the year.”

Jarrod Vella, Devan Ellis, Gabriel Ndaisaba, Mitch Jerkovic, Joel Patty and Adam Moscatiello all impressed for the Suns.

In other results, Sunshine Heights (111) were too good for North Sunshine (20) and Braybrook (116) outclassed Tarneit (49).