SANDGATE vs. MORNINGSIDE
Saturday May 9, 2:00pm – Lemke Road
It’s been a difficult week for Sandgate off the field. Friday night, their ground was completely underwater.
But as footy club members do, they rolled up their sleeves, got their hands dirty, and got the ground back to normal.
“The good thing about it was we had probably 150 people out there the other night working on it. That’s from juniors all the way through to our masters and everyone in between, so it was great,” coach Graham Adams said.
“That’s where our club is at, everyone chips in and does a little bit so it’s fantastic.”
The Hawks have had a couple of weeks to reflect on a tough loss to Wilston Grange in round 3.
Tomorrow, they are out for redemption.
“Morningside is a tough ask, so we are looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
“We were disappointing last game so we have got to redeem ourselves a little bit out there, so that what we are looking to do.
“I think maybe everyone got ahead of themselves a little bit and Wilston Grange was a reality check, so I’m really hoping we put up a damn good performance tomorrow.”
There’s no doubting events like these bring clubs closer, which Morningside coach David Lake is cautious of.
“It’s been a terrific week for Sandgate to rally and put their footy club back together. I think that’s when footy clubs find out who they are, and that’s dangerous,” Lake said.
The Panthers are coming off the back of a huge win over UQ, but realise it’s a different kettle of fish this week.
“That’s a day out, you don’t have those all the time. You can if you do the work, but the boys just know they have to put their heads down and start all over again,” he said.
“They are in a good place and have had a really good week on the track.”
The open expanses of Lemke reserve, which is in fantastic nick considering the week it’s had, means this one will be a very free flowing game of footy.
Morningside will be tough to beat, but if Sandgate rally on the field as they have off, it’s game on.
FOOTY RECORD: QAFL RECORD – RD 4 – MORNINGSIDE VS SANDGATE
LABRADOR vs. BROADBEACH
Sunday May 10, 2:00pm – Cooke-Murphy Oval
The bye came at a good time for Broadbeach.
After a difficult couple of weeks, they were able to regroup, re-evaluate, and re-focus.
“We had a bit of soul searching, a bit of reality check stuff, a bit of video and a few home truths. They have trained well so I’m quite excited about this week,” coach Wayne Petterd said.
It won’t be an easy task this week, as they face a Labrador team in red-hot form.
“We have just got to be on top of our game, they have gone out and brought some quality players into their group on top of the quality players they already have from last year, so they are a pretty formidable combination,” he said.
“If we are not on our game we will get our pants pulled down, so we are looking forward to a contest this week.”
Their effort and contested work has been good, but they haven’t used the ball as well as they would have liked so far this year.
“It’s the execution with the ball in hand and the thought process that is the worry, they are a committed lot but at the moment the execution isn’t right and they aren’t working for one another, so we have been working on that the last week and a half,” Petterd said.
Labrador on the other hand and tracking beautifully in season 2015.
A weekend off can sometimes throw a spanner in the works at a footy club, something coach Steve Daniel is mindful of.
“They are really looking forward to it, you’re a bit worried as a coach after you’ve had a bye because you are not sure what’s going to happen, but the boys are ready to go,” Daniel said.
With Broadbeach’s season in the balance, Daniel knows they will come out breathing fire.
“They are going to really have a fair-dinkum crack at us. Sitting at 1-2 at the moment there is no way they are going to want to be 1-3 so they are going to really welcome the challenge, and I certainly hope that we are up for it,” he said.
Broadbeach will look to get on top in the contested stats early, but the big-bodied Tigers will have something to say about that.
Whoever gains ascendancy through the middle should get the job done on Sunday.
FOOTY RECORD: QAFL RECORD – RD 4 – LABRADOR VS BROADBEACH
By Andrew Wiles – @andrewjwiles
