It has taken them nearly the whole AFL Cairns season to do it, but Cairns City Cobras might have uncovered a playing philosophy that will serve them well in future campaigns.
Cobras scored their second win in three games on Saturday when they beat top four side Centrals Trinity Beach 19.18-122 to 17.11-113 at Crathern Oval.
Scores were level at 79 all heading into the last quarter before Cobras proved poise was part of their playing repertoire by outscoring the Bulldogs in the final term.
Forward Patrick Bass continued his fine goal-square form of late to boot five majors for Cobras, while Jake Briggs (four goals) topped the list for Holloways Beach natives.
Cobras were eliminated from finales calculations two months ago and have had nothing but pride to play for.
Cobras captain Steve Diehm, who left the field with a shoulder injury after 20 minutes, said his side had performed better since the pressure to make the top-four was realised.
“At the start of the year we put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we knew we had a side to play finals footy,” he said. “Since we’ve been out of the contention we’ve just relaxed more and we’re enjoying our footy again. We’re working better as a group and we like being out there together”
Diehm, however, cannot help but think what might have been if Cobras were playing this cohesive in the middle of the season.
“It good that we’re getting those wins now because you want to finish the year strong but it’s frustrating that its happening now and not earlier,” he said.
The Bulldogs have now slumped to three straight losses, but still sit fourth on the ladder, only a win out of second place.
Last Modified on 08/02/2011 10:51