Evan Hocking's hard-nosed approach to footy is beginning to rub off on his Port Douglas Crocs, just in time for the most eagerly anticipated regular-season game of 2011. The joker of the pack during the week, the Crocs skipper gets a glint in his eye as he crosses the white line on Saturdays and he says his team is beginning to share his game-day tenacity.
"I like a laugh but I get my footy head on for the game. I get pretty serious once I cross that line," he said yesterday. "And everyone is beginning to realise what hard work needs to be done and their effort and intensity has definitely increased in the last few weeks."
The Crocs and Saints have been eyeing off their last-round clash – a game that will decide who finishes second and third – for at least a month. The winner finishes second and gets two chances to qualify for the grand final. The loser faces an elimination semi-final with Centrals Trinity Bulldogs.
And a look at the statistics reveals an uncanny match-up of the two sides that contested last year’s AFL Cairns grand final. Both teams have notched 68 premiership points with less than one point separating their percentages. When the teams last met at Griffiths Park – the venue for tomorrow’s clash – the Crocs got up by four points.
"It’s amazing how close it is, and we respect them very highly," Crocs’ coach Andy Viola said.
Viola said the presence of former VFL premiership player Max O’Halloran as the Saints’ coaching director meant they were always going to be a well-oiled machine.
"He was the difference (in last year’s grand final), I think. He helps a lot with the off-field stuff while Jimmy (head coach James Coatsworth) is on the park."
Hocking said he always relished facing the three-time defending champions on the big stage.
"Generally you approach the game a bit differently, and there is always a bit of banter there that we do enjoy."
An ankle injury is likely to keep Crocs’ in-form utility player Ben McCartney out for at least one week, while Saints will have to forge ahead without key forward Matt Walsh, who fractured his foot and is out for the season.
Saints’ player-coach James Coatsworth was his usually cautious self, saying his team was "quietly confident" after more than a month of impressive performances.
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/08/26/179655_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 26/08/2011 08:45