By Mark Gullick
PLAYER management will be Cranbourne coach Doug Koop’s primary focus over the next six weeks.
The Eagles have two byes in the next four matches that round out the home-and-away season – and will also have the first week of the finals off.
“We’ve got a plan in place that will hopefully work for us,” Koop said. “We’ve got a few blokes with some niggles, so it won’t hurt to have the bye next week and we’re expecting a tough game against Pakky in round 16.
“We finish off with Keysy at Keysy, which is always pretty tough. We’ve got a solid preparation for our finals campaign. We’ve got the bye in round 18 and then the first week of the finals, but we’ve got some plans in place which will hopefully have us ready to rock ‘n’ roll in the second semi-final.”
Cranbourne remains undefeated following a dramatic comeback from five goals in arrears to defeat Narre Warren by 57 points at Kalora Park.
Marc Holt kicked eight goals, while Jarrod Murphy, Michael Theodoridis and Matthew Rus were solid in the high-quality encounter.
Devon Meadows hosts sixth-placed Doveton on Saturday with the opposition hellbent on keeping its slim finals chances alive.
The Panthers fell to ROC by nine points in a dour contest at Officer last weekend.
ROC kicked four goals to one in the opening term and withstood a late surge by Devon Meadows to secure its fourth win.
This year Devon Meadows has repeatedly harvested strong performers from its core and that trend continued on Saturday.
Its best players were Chris Campbell through the midfield, workhorse Adam Jago (four goals), all-rounder David Velardo, the classy Brandon Wapshott, the tireless Jesse DeHey and young gun Steve McInnes.
Throughout a difficult season, this half dozen have never wavered in their endeavours.
