“I’m confident that the boys will play their best”
The Box Hill Hawks development team finished on top of the ladder heading into the finals, and defeated the Casey Scorpions for the second time in 2 weeks in the semi-final to gain access to this year’s Grand Final.
This weekend, the Box Hill Hawks will be looking to make it 3 in a row, as they aim to bring home the AFL Victoria Development League Premiership.
Development Coach Matt Adolph is confident that his side can deliver in Sunday’s Grand Final. “As a coach I think there are always nerves but I’m confident that the boys will play their best and get the job done.’
Coming up against Casey for the third time in a row, the boys can head into the game confident; however, Adolph is cautious about keeping routine the same and not letting excitement or nerves get the better of the team.
‘We’ve got a fair few blokes who have experienced Grand Final day so I know they’ll have nerves and be excited to get onto the ground. We’ve got to be the first side to settle into the game on the day, that will go a long way. We said all along that the two weeks leading up to the Grand Final are going to be exactly the same. It’s worked all season and the players need to keep to their routine heading into the game.’
‘Being a Sunday game we’ll still train on Saturday and analyse Casey’s game from the weekend because you still might find that one thing that will help you on game day.’
Having only played one game at North Port Oval throughout 2016, which resulted in a loss for our Development boys, Adolph will be having a close look at the ground to see what the team can do to improve their chances. ‘We played on North Port once this year and unfortunately lost so I’ll analyse that game as well and see what went wrong on that ground and what we can do to improve.’
Despite this keen eye for preparation, the bruises from last years Grand Final against Williamstown have created a sense of caution when thinking about what is to come on Sunday.
‘Last year we were in the same position where we played Williamstown in the first final but were unlucky enough to get knocked off in the Grand Final. We all took a lot out of that and you can never know what will happen Grand Final day but we’ve done our preparation and we are ready for the weekend.’
‘But even though anything can happen Game Day and we obviously want the best, my message to the boys will be to embrace it and enjoy the day.’
With the action set to kick off at 11:30 am this Sunday the 18th of September, be sure to get down to North Port Oval for what is sure to be a nail biting game as the Box Hill Development squad look to secure their third win in a row against Casey and take home the AFL Victorian Development League Premiership.
