“Ideally, I’d love to say finals, and I don’t see why that can’t happen.’’
Those were the words of Bendigo Bank Bombers captain James Flaherty on the eve of the VFL season when asked in an interview with the Bendigo Advertiser of his expectations for 2010.
Flaherty’s comments on April 9 perhaps would have raised a few eyebrows for readers, considering the Bombers were entering the season on the back of a disastrous 2009 in which they finished last on the ladder without a win.
Just one win this year would have been an improvement for the Bombers, but right from the outset under new coach Shannon Grant, the club that this time 12 months ago was at the crossroads had an aim of returning to the finals.
And what appeared a bold pre-season expectation has now become a reality, with the Bombers to this Sunday contest their first final since 2007.
With a 10-8 record and finish of eighth position on the ladder, the Bombers will meet the Box Hill Hawks at the Box Hill City Oval in the VFL’s first elimination final.
“There has obviously been a bit of a turnaround for us this year and it’s exciting to be playing finals again,’’ Flaherty said yesterday.
“Over the past couple of years we haven’t had much success, so to win 10 games this season and finish not far off fifth has been great, both on and off the field.
“We got a solid group together pre-season, and getting Hayden Skipworth and Jason Cloke coming back to the club, it looked positive for us early.’’
While the Bombers will be the lowest-ranked team in the finals, they have shown they are more than capable of doing some damage against teams higher than them.
They beat minor premier Williamstown at Williamstown by three points in round 15; defeated fourth-placed Port Melbourne by 49 points in round two in a game that ended their 25-game losing streak; beat seventh-placed Collingwood twice; while they lost to second-placed North Ballarat and third-placed Casey Scorpions by just a combined 12 points.
What that shows is the Bombers aren’t just making up the numbers.
But they will need to improve significantly on last weekend if they are to advance to week two.
The Bombers ended the home and away season last Saturday with an 88-point loss to ninth-placed Sandringham at Windy Hill in what was Bendigo’s biggest defeat of the season.
The Bendigo team included 17 VFL-listed players, Bendigo Pioneer Leigh Masters, and only five Essendon players.
“We had a couple of blokes playing their first games last week,’’ said Flaherty, who will return to the side after missing the past two games with a corked calf.
“But it was a disappointing performance; we had a few guys who didn’t come ready to play, which is something we’ve addressed this week and hopefully, that won’t happen again this Sunday.
“Apart from last week, we’ve been playing some consistent footy.’’
Before last week’s loss to the Zebras, the Bombers had won their previous four matches.
The Bombers and Box Hill have met once this season, with the Hawthorn-aligned Hawks winning by 41 points in round nine at Box Hill. The Hawks set that 14.10 (94) to 8.5 (53) win up by leading 5.4 to 1.0 at quarter-time.
Sunday will be the Bombers’ sixth final in their history, and their first since losing to North Ballarat by 37 points in the 2007 elimination final.
That elimination final loss to the Roosters at TEAC Oval was in a game in which the Bombers – then coached by Matthew Knights – had led by 54 points at half-time, before being outscored 17.14 to 3.7 after the main break in what was a remarkable capitulation.
It’s not a fond memory for Flaherty, who was in his first VFL season.
“It was one of the biggest turnarounds in VFL finals history, but that just shows that when it gets to this time of the year, anything can happen,’’ Flaherty said.
As well as this year and 2007, the Bombers have also played finals in 2005 (beaten in preliminary final by Sandringham) and 2004 (beaten in elimination final by Tasmania).
This Sunday’s elimination final between Bendigo and Box Hill starts at 2pm.
n Essendon players qualified to play for the Bombers in the finals: Jarrod Atkinson, Tom Bellchambers, Christian Bock, Jake Carlisle, Stewart Crameri, Kyle Hardingham, Bachar Houli, Marcus Marigliani, David Myers, Jay Neagle, Michael Quinn, Tyson Slattery, Matthew Still, John Williams.
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