DION Johnstone believes Oakleigh Chargers’ last-round test against pace-setter North Ballarat Rebels will help them in their TAC Cup finals quest.
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Oakleigh meets Gippsland Power in an elimination final at Princes Park on Saturday.
Johnstone, 17, is expecting a tough contest but is quietly confident the Chargers can extend their season another week.
The North Warrnambool Eagles-listed teenager will line-up at half-forward.
It will be his 11th appearance for Oakleigh, having wrapped up school commitments with Scotch College.
“We’re feeling good. We’re pretty confident with the team at the moment that’ll we’ll get over Gippy,” Johnstone said.
“The game I played against them we won by three points.
“They’ll be competitive the whole day.”
Oakleigh suffered a 34-point loss to North Ballarat in the final round.
The match pitted Johnstone against Hampden league opponents, including Portland’s Tom Templeton, South Warrnambool’s Hugh McCluggage, Warrnambool’s Luke McLeod and Koroit’s Jarrod Korewha.
“I knew a few people at the Rebels so it was good to come up against them because it was the first time I’d played them this year,” he said.
Johnstone said Oakleigh was happy with its efforts against the ladder-leaders on their home deck at Eureka Stadium.
“We were right in the game for the first three quarters and in the last quarter they kicked a few goals,” he said.
“It was a good game because they are top of the ladder and it got our confidence up a bit more knowing we can compete with a top team.”
Johnstone is in his first TAC Cup season.
He was aligned to Oakleigh after moving to Scotch College on a indigenous sporting scholarship in 2014.
The former Brauer College student said he was enjoying the Melbourne lifestyle.
But the chance to play for North Warrnambool Eagles is also high on his priority.
Johnstone has made two senior appearances for the Eagles, who will play in a qualifying final on Saturday, this season.
He made his Hampden senior debut 12 months ago in a qualifying final, earning a call-up following a series of exciting performances in the under 16s.
“If we get knocked out this week I might go and play finals with North,” Johnstone said.
North Ballarat Rebels play Geelong Falcons in a qualifying final at Princes Park on Saturday afternoon, directly after the Oakleigh-Gippsland clash.
Templeton, McCluggage, Korewha and Koroit’s Nick Hausler, who has overcome an ankle injury, will represent the south-west in the high stakes game.