Hoppers Crossing Football Club spent the past month lurking in the shadows, quietly plotting the demise of St Albans.
But the Warriors gave no indication to the outside world of the carnage they would inflict in a 50-point victory over the Saints in the Western Region Football League division 1 elimination final at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
As the losses piled up for the Warriors in the lead up to the finals, the doubts grew as to whether this promising young team could even be competitive.
The Warriors were embarrassed in both their previous clashes with the Saints this year – going down by 83 points on home soil in round five and 70 points away at Kings Park Reserve in round 14.
“A lot of people wrote us off,” Warriors coach Steven Kretiuk said.
“We’ve been planning for this game for about four weeks and we put a lot of work into it.”
“We had some scouts go out to watch St Albans in the last couple of weeks and we identified what we were going to do.’’
The Warriors played a game of mix and match in the coach’s box, to good effect.
The check-mate move was turning Mohamad El Hawli from a defender to a forward.
El Hawli has booted 11 goals this season – six of them came in the elimination final.
“He’s been playing in the defence all year, and we sort of identified on Tuesday night that we needed a marking target up forward,” Kretiuk said.
“He’s really good overhead and a real energetic player, so we thought we’d put him up there and might be able to get a mismatch.’’
Kretiuk said his side was switched on from the moment they ran onto the field.
A stunning eight-goal second quarter underpinned the win.
The best-on-ground by a length of Hogans Road was Warriors ruckman Wayde Skipper.
The former AFL player did it all in the air and at ground level to reiterate that he’s the premier mobile big man in the league.
“It was one of the best games [by a player] that I’ve seen at local footy for a long time,” Kretiuk said.
“He gave us first use and really dominated the clearances. That was a telling factor.”
Jordan Moody played a sacrificial role in the forward line, keeping a close eye on St Albans rebounding defender Teghan Henderson.
John Robinson restricted in-form Saints forward Michael Spooner to three goals.
Brydon Coles had the unenviable task of blanketing dual Priest medallist Tim Jenkins and did so with aplomb.
The Warriors have set up an all-Wyndham semi-final against Werribee Districts at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
“They’ve beaten us twice this year, as St Albans did,” Kretiuk said.
“We’ve just got to make sure, win lose or draw, we just come and compete and play our game.’’
WRFL FINALS WEEK 2
Division 1
Second semi-final: Deer Park v Spotswood (Chirnside Park, 2.15pm, Saturday)
First semi-final: Werribee Districts v Hoppers Crossing (Chirnside Park, 2.15pm, Sunday)
Division 2
Preliminary final: Wyndhamvale v West Footscray (Wootten Road Reserve, Saturday, 2.15pm)
Division 3
Preliminary final: Braybrook v Sanctuary Lakes (Hogans Road Reserve, Sunday, 2.15pm)
