Carter confident Square will put its best foot forward in preliminary final

Then there's been times when they've looked like a middle of the road team - losses to an understrength Sandhurst and teams that missed the finals in Eaglehawk and Kyneton spring to mind.

Which Golden Square team will turn up on Saturday for the preliminary final against Gisborne?

Coach Christian Carter's faith in his squad hasn't wavered all year and he has no reason to believe he'll get anything less than 100 per cent from his squad on Saturday.

"Every time we've had a loss we've learned from it,'' Carter said.

"We feel as though we're better placed now. Every time we've played one of the top sides we've brought our best.

"We seem to get up for all the big games. I have no problem with our mindset this week. We're ready to play in a big game against a quality club."

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Carter's confidence stems from Square's ability to keep scoreboard damage to a minimum.

In the six wins Square has had since losing to Eaglehawk in round 13 the average score against is just 46.5.

The only blemish was the qualifying final loss to Strathfieldsaye where the Storm scored 98 points - the highest score Square has conceded in 2022.

"Last week our defence was back to its best and we kept South Bendigo to its lowest score of the year.

"We have to take confidence out of that. South had won a final easily and came at us with momentum, yet our structures and plans, along with buy-in from every player, didn't allow them to score.

"We've defended well against Gisborne in the past and we've seen some of the scores they've kicked against other sides.

"Our defence is our backbone, so we're confident it will hold up this week."

Carter said the secret to the team defence is concentration from all 18 players on the field.

"You have to be switched on the entire game,'' he said.

"You can't give teams like Gisborne a five minute burst because they'll make you pay."

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Square's biggest headache is the other end of the ground where its forwards have been wayward in the finals.

"We did a little bit of goal kicking this week, but we didn't go overboard,'' Carter said.

"I'd be more worried if we weren't getting the shots at goal. We did some work on getting shots in better positions on the ground, hopefully that turns around this week."

Forward Joel Brett needs four goals on Saturday to reach his century. After kicking 92 goals in the home and away season, he's been relatively well held in the finals, kicking four goals in total.

"It's a big thing for Joel and it's probably been playing on his mind a little bit,'' Carter said.

"The conversation with him is 'take the 100 out of your mind because we need you as a team to kick goals for us'.

"If we play good team footy he's going to kick at least two or three anyway and, hopefully, the 100 will look after itself."

The preliminary final is the 11th finals clash between the BFNL's two Bulldogs.

The clubs are locked at five wins apiece.

"I've been involved in a lot of preliminary finals and they're mighty hard to win, but this group is committed and dedicated and they want to put everything on the line this week,'' Carter said.

"We want to get another crack at Strathfieldsaye in the grand final."

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