Rovers set for Yarra blockbuster

There’s no better way to prepare for the high-octane and ruthless nature of finals footy than facing off against the teams you’re going to meet. Wangaratta Rovers will cap off their home and away season against two of the better teams knocking around in Myrtleford and Yarrawonga over the next fortnight, with the Pigeons swooping on WJ Findlay Oval this Saturday. After back-to-back losses, the Rovers recaptured their best with a three-figure win last weekend, and will look to parlay that into a consistent performance against a legitimate contender. Rovers football operations manager Mario Antonello said the next two weeks would be a perfect primer for finals. “It’s good to get a couple of top five teams we could potentially play at some stage over the finals,” he said. “It’s a pretty good top five, the order can definitely change but I don’t think we can drop below second but can finish as high as first. “We just need to play well, win convincingly, and hope Wangaratta slip up at some stage. “I know training’s definitely kicked up another notch which is good at this time of the year. “It was good to get back on the winners list.” While much noise was made about the back-to-back premiers losing matches to Albury and Wodonga, Antonello said there wasn’t much concern internally. “It probably just happened at the wrong time of the year – if we had lost the first two games [of the year] and won the next 14, we’d be saying we’re flying,” he said. “They’re human beings at the end of the day, you’re always prone to up and down form. “We’ve had some losses over the last couple of weeks in some games we probably should’ve won, but that’s the way it’s panned out, and now we deal with whatever we can control, which is the next two weeks and some finals.” Yarrawonga can’t slip from the top five, and will be determined to claim a major scalp on the eve of finals. Rovers did the job by 11 goals the last time they met, but Antonello said it would be a proper challenge. “Their biggest strength is definitely through the middle with [Jack] Elliot, and Willie Wheeler’s a gun, he’s still one of the best mids in the competition,” he said. “I think [Max] Findlay might’ve tagged Muz [Sam Murray] the last time we played them at Yarra, and although it was a decent win, he did a really good job. “Some of the other guys they’ve got like Bailey Fraunfelder and Cam Wilson are still regarded as some of the best players in the competition. “Yarra are peaking at the right time, and Leigh Masters would have them pretty well on the same page at this time of the year, he’s a very good coach. “We’re expecting a really tough game to be honest, which will be our last home game this year, it’ll be a really good hitout for both sides going into finals.” Meanwhile, top of the table Wangaratta Magpies hit the road for the final time in the regular season, heading to Bunton Park to take on the North Albury Hoppers. With a game and percentage lead on the second-placed Rovers, the Magpies can take one step closer to the all-important minor premiership with a victory over the Hopper this weekend. Their last match fell the way of the black and white by three goals, but the ‘Pies have grown even stronger since.

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