THE odds may not look attractive, but Rohan Welsh isn’t prepared to fold the cards.
Welsh subscribes to the belief there’s always hope while there’s life and Vic Metro still very much have a beat as the AFL Under 18 National Championships enters its last two matches.
He knows everything has to fall Vic Metro’s way to claim the title, but he’s not going to count it out until it’s officially over.
For Vic Metro to keep alive its prospects it must first defeat Northern Territory and do so by a considerable margin to get its percentage – currently 134.5 – up to the vicinity of Vic Country – 168 – and South Australia – 164.
Vic Metro plays West Australia on Wednesday where the 2010 NAB AFL Under 18 Championship winner will be crowned.
Welsh said Vic Metro is likely to rest some players from today’s Northern Territory match in a bid to freshen them for the match against West Australia.
He said the coaching staff is mindful of the demands on players coming back on three days rest for the final match.
“It’s going to be a pretty hard ask for our midfielders who have had a pretty hard carnival,” Welsh said.
“But, we still think we’re in it. No doubt we can still win it. If we have a good win against Northern Territory anything could happen on Wednesday,” Welsh said.
“It depends on what happens with Vic Country and South Australia. It could go down to that match deciding the Championship or it may come down to percentage if there’s three teams on the same points.”
Vic Country is the only defeated team. Vic Metro, who lost to Vic Country, in the Championship opener, and South Australia, who lost to Vic Metro, shape as the only challengers to Vic Country.
Welsh said Metro players couldn’t be wasting any energy wondering about what might happen on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to get off to a good start and continue to apply the pressure all match against Northern Territory,” he said.
“We’re playing footy at the moment. We need to stamp our authority early so we can keep the momentum going and not for one minute take the foot off the accelerator.
“We can only do what we can control and that’s win our games. If we can do that then we give ourselves a chance on the Wednesday.
“We’ll be trying to play the best we can and win by as much as we can.”
Last Modified on 18/08/2010 11:48