COLLINGULLIE-Glenfield Park captain-coach Luke Gestier is not shying away from the importance of Saturday’s top of the table clash against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Demons get a chance to secure the Riverina League minor premiership when they travel to Mangoplah Sportsground on Saturday.
Collingullie-GP sit four points plus percentage ahead of the Goannas and a win will all but secure top spot with just two rounds remaining.
Gestier said a win over MCUE would be massive.
“For sure, the stats and ladder tell you that if we were to win this that it would go a long way to winning the minor premiership,” Gestier said.
“We’ll look at it as another important game and a chance to build momentum into the end of the year.”
The minor premier gets the first week of finals off, and then two bites at a grand final berth.
Gestier believes the minor premiership is the perfect platform to launch an attack on the flag.
“I do, I put a big emphasis on (top spot),” he said.
“You get to set yourself up perfectly, to really structure up and so everything right. People say you don’t want to have the week off but if you finish second, you only need to drop that first game and you’re up against an in-form team coming off an elimination final win.
“I think anyone who says they don’t want top spot is kidding themselves.”
Talking of weeks off, the Demons will go to Mangoplah on the back of a bye last weekend.
Gestier took the opportunity to give his team a big freshen up and believes it is exactly what the Demons needed heading into the business end of the season.
“Obviously we had the bye and it is what it is, we kept pretty fresh,” he said.
“We wanted to really rejuvenate for a good tilt over the last couple of months. We only trained once, kept the boys off the track and freshened everyone right up. It was a chance with the bye, and we’d had a solid eight or nine weeks straight before that.”
Collingullie-GP defeated MCUE by 41 points at Crossroads Oval earlier this year. It was a result that Gestier said gives his team confidence heading into Saturday’s second showdown.
“For sure, I think our game stacks up against theirs very well, we match up really well,” he said.
“I know their forwards have been kicking bags of goals but our defence is in tip top shape and I’ll back them in to do the job again.
“We’ve added to our midfield depth with Stevie Jolliffe and our forward line, the proof is in the pudding with Gep and (Brad) Aiken.”
Jolliffe missed the game against Griffith and will return for the MCUE clash. Kal Sykes remains out with a shoulder injury, while Daniel Frawley will miss the game due to exams in Sydney.