St Bernard’s to face Collegians in VAFA Premier preliminary final after qualifying final loss to University Blacks

ST BERNARD’S coach Anthony Rock says his side will draw on its proven ability to rebound from losses ahead of its do-or-die Victorian Amateur Football Association preliminary final against Collegians.

VAFA: St Bernard's versus University Blacks at St Bernards College, West Essendon. Victorian Football Association St Bernards coach Anthony Rock. Pictures: Angie Basdekis

ST BERNARD’S coach Anthony Rock says his side will draw on its proven ability to rebound from losses ahead of its do-or-die Victorian Amateur Football Association preliminary final against Collegians this weekend.

The Snowdogs were beaten in their qualifying final against University Blacks on Saturday, going down 15.17 (107) to 9.10 (64) in a performance Rock said was the worst in his time at the club.

“How else can I put it, we just weren’t good enough on the day,” Rock said.

“It was probably as poor (as any) performance I’ve been involved with at the club.

“But at the end of the day we’ve deserved an opportunity to advance to the next game.”

The Snowdogs have proven their ability to bounce back from defeat, winning the week after they were beaten on four occasions this year.

The only time St Bernard’s has lost consecutive matches has been over the past two weeks, both against Uni Blacks.

“The good thing about us is we’ve had an ability to bounce back really quickly,” Rock said.

“I put faith in the guys that they’ll do that.”

While the opening quarter was tense at Sportscover Arena, Uni Blacks clicked into gear in the second and never looked back.

The minor premier turned a two-point quarter-time buffer into a 20-point half time lead which stretched to 39 points by the last break.

Alastair Robbins was impressive with four goals for Uni Blacks, while Jesse Laurie and Simon Hogan were prominent.

Mitchell Hannan and Simon Caven were St Bernard’s best, while Chad Jones snagged three goals.

Rock said Collegians, which has won its past four games including a 14-point victory against Old Scotch on Saturday, were a dangerous side.

“Clearly they beat Scotch in Round 18 and took a lot of confidence out of that,” he said.

“And they did it again. It wasn’t a huge margin, but they did it again.

“They’re obviously full of confidence at the right time of the year.”

St Bernard’s has won both its fixtures against Collegians this year.

The winner of this weekend’s preliminary final will meet Uni Blacks in the Premier Division grand final.