A RE-ENERGISED Goulburn Swans have secured third place with a thumping 147 to 18 win against Ainslie at Goodhew Park on Saturday.
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They will now face rivals the Yass Roos this coming Saturday in a finals 2 vs 3 blockbuster in Canberra.
But it wasn’t the re-newed form that made coach Steve Armstrong happy on Saturday.
It was his team coming together at the right time that put a smile on his face.
“The boys really started to click again and that’s exactly what you need. We want blokes to say it really means something, to get the feeling back of playing for each other,” he said.
“We’re going to really need that ‘tight-knit’, ‘stick-together’, ‘we’re there for each other’, ‘we’ve got your back’ attitude rather then just going through the motions.”
The Swans seemed to have Ainslie measured from the beginning and they proved too fast and too physical in what was a satisfying return to form a few weeks earlier.
To secure third place the Swans needed a big win to maintain a better percentage then fourth placed Cooma.
They did so with the help of returning players Ramez Dagher, who returned from a foot injury, and versatile small forward Simon Treloar.
“Ramez is just a constant team man. He’ll share the ball as much as he can. He might kick four goals, but he’s shared six,” Armstrong said.
“Simon Treloar is a really gut busting, hard running, inspiration kid that just never complains, never whinges about anything. He just gets in and does his job.”
Hard running winger Dale Cummins tore up the Ainslie defence with his blistering speed.
He had his best game all season. His efforts included a near full-field, rebounding from defence carry of the ball to goal, with the help of a slick handball from Adam Wilson.
“He took the game by the horns,” Armstrong said.
“He does his talking with his footy and he is really hitting form now. Blokes who can run like that and can link up with players like Sam Ash and Ben Conway makes it come together.”
Swans president and veteran ruckman Grant Haigh said it’s now up to the club to continue playing good footy.
“I’m quite happy and I think it’s better that we haven’t finished first,’ he said.
“We can play through and not have the week off. I think we need that consistency rather then the byes.”
He says the upcoming final against foes the Yass Roos will be a blockbuster.
“I think you could probably safely say that this game will determine who will be in the grand-final with Coota. That’s my thoughts... Plus given the rivalry we’ve always had she’s going to be a fairly heated match.”