GISBORNE will be out to show the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football League today that despite its injury-depleted list, it’s not a spent force in 2009.
Although Gisborne still sits third on the ladder, the Bulldogs have endured an indifferent past six weeks as they battle to overcome the unavailability of a string of key players.
After winning its first seven games of the season, Gisborne has split its past six matches 3-3, and now looks to have a battle on its hands to maintain its position in the top three with five rounds remaining.
Gisborne faces a major test today when it hosts second-placed Golden Square, which should be brimming with confidence after outplaying its Bulldogs’ namesake just six weeks ago.
“If we could get a win in this game against a quality side like Golden Square, it would go a long way to strengthening the belief within a lot of our group,’’ Gisborne coach Ty Elliott said yesterday.
“I think we match up well with Golden Square, so we’re looking forward to having another crack at them.
”We know they have a good list, so it’s a good challenge for us.’’
Gisborne still has the likes of captain Anthony Belcher, Luke Saunders, Rod Sharp, Simon Elsum, Adam Pokrovsky and Tristan James sidelined, while classy goalsneak Darren Farrugia and ruckman Jason Duff-Tytler are both unavailable today.
“In the first seven rounds when we won those games, I didn’t think we were a great football side,’’ Elliott said.
“We had some good players, but we certainly weren’t playing great footy.
“But having those senior guys out that we have been missing for a while now, I think that has contributed to our inconsistency over the past six or so weeks.’’
Although Gisborne will be far from full strength, Square coach Mark Adamson is well aware of the challenge of toppling Gisborne at Gardiner Reserve.
“Beating Gisborne at Gisborne is something that has only happened once in the past four years, so it’s going to be a massive challenge when you look at it like that,’’ Adamson said.
“So it would be a bit of a landmark win if we could pull it off when you look at it in the context of the season, and where the teams are.
“But the pure fact of the matter is Gisborne is terribly hard to beat down there.’’
The only team to have beaten Gisborne in its past 37 games at Gardiner Reserve is Kangaroo Flat, which triumphed by 25 points two weeks ago.
Golden Square and Gisborne last met on June 7 at Country Vet Oval, with Golden Square producing a strong second half to run away with a 49-point win.
Asked how much confidence his side would derive from that victory, Adamson answered: “Every game is different, and we’ll be playing in different conditions at a different ground, so I probably don’t take that much out of it.
“It was a good win at the time, but when you play a good side like this, it’s a different occasion again, so you’ve got to be able to treat it on its merits.
“Sure, you get confidence out of previous performances, but at the end of the day, I just want the players to look at each game as an individual challenge.’’
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