GOLDEN Square captain Simon Rosa says the stinging words of coach Nick Carter in the aftermath of the side’s round 10 loss to Strathfieldsaye set the tone for what has become an impressive run into the Bendigo Football League finals.
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After the Storm beat the Bulldogs by 42 points in round 10, Carter made it clear that “if you don’t contribute, you won’t be in the side.”
Or to put it bluntly – passengers won’t be tolerated.
The following week the Bulldogs came out snarling, keeping South Bendigo goalless until the final quarter in what was a 136-point win that was the first of eight victories in a row Golden Square will carry into Saturday night’s qualifying final against Sandhurst at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Only Eaglehawk (29 points) has finished inside 10 goals of the Bulldogs during their eight-game winning streak, while two weeks ago qualifying final opponent Sandhurst copped an 84-point hiding.
“The message from Nick after that game against Strathfieldsaye was if we want to go the whole way and win a grand final, everyone needs to play their role,” Rosa said on Thursday.
“Guys coming in don’t need to be world-beaters and do extraordinary things… play their role and don’t just go kick-chasing.
“We think we’ve got a good group together that understands what it needs to do and we have blokes playing their role for the team, rather than just worrying about keeping their spot.
“We’re really making blokes earn their spot in the side, and also, if guys have a couple of poor games in a row, they are going back to the reserves, so there’s real competition for spots at the club.”
While most of the hype this season has rightly surrounded the unbeaten Strathfieldsaye Storm, it has allowed Golden Square to keep a low profile.
We think we’ve got a good group together that understands what it needs to do
- Simon Rosa
Apart from a pair of losses to the Storm, the Bulldogs have won their other 16 games by an average of 70 points and with competition for spots red-hot, they have every right to hit what is their 12th-consecutive finals appearance with plenty of optimism.
“It’s a long season and while it’s important to try to win every game, we’ve had a path of improvement we wanted to follow through the season to hopefully, get in a good position and give ourselves a double chance for finals,” Rosa said.
“I’m confident that if we can play somewhere near our best throughout the finals then we’re capable of beating any side.”
ADDY SELECTIONS:
LUKE WEST – Golden Square (24); Eaglehawk (13).
ADAM BOURKE – Golden Square (18); Eaglehawk (10).