South Rovers reserves coach Brandt Walther had a tough task to pick his best 21 players for Saturday’s WDFNL grand final but he made the right calls.
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Rovers defeated Nirranda 6.12 (48) to 2.6 (18).
Walther said it was difficult to narrow the final team down from 30 players to 21.
“This is probably only the third time this year we have had our full-strength side to pick from,” he said.
“We had a lot of guys playing seniors and a lot of injuries. Everyone was healthy at the right time of the year. Unfortunately we had 10 guys miss out. That’s why we are in this position, because of the depth we have created this year. The guys who missed out totally understood, and were all here, so it’s fantastic.”
He said the team knew it had to hit the ground running against Nirranda.
“We pride ourselves on our starts,” he said.
“Last time we played them in the second semi they got the jump on us five goals to none so we knew what to expect after that. We knew if we started really well we could just grind them down and that’s what happened in the end. It has been our focus all week.”
Best-on-ground medals went to Rovers half-back Matthew McMillan and midfielder Dechlan Picken.
“I think there were a few nerves early but once we got the first couple of goals we steadied and the mid-fielders got their hands on the ball well,” he said.
“We set the scene from there.”
Picken said South Rovers had learnt a lot from the last time they had played the Blues.
“Once we got the good start we carried it on from there,” he said.
Picken said he was surprised to receive the best on ground medal.
“I thought I had a good last quarter, but I thought I was quiet for the rest of it,” he said.
McMillan said the win was the result of a whole team effort.
“It could have gone to a number of the boys, I’m just happy to have a win,” he said.