Coburg Tigers spring surprise
01 September 2007 Herald Sun
Geoff Poulter
THE Coburg Tigers, the big improvers this season, have drawn the short straw by having to face in-form Geelong in a qualifying final at Port Melbourne tomorrow.
The Tigers, eliminated in the first week of the 2006 finals, finished third on the ladder. The second-placed Cats have stood out in recent rounds to become flag favourite, with reigning premier Sandringham's growing injury list.
"We have exceeded expectations," said Coburg coach Andrew Collins, whose side earned the double chance.
"(In a pre-season poll) nine out of 12 tipsters picked us to finish in the bottom two.
"I don't think anyone had us in the eight.
"We understand that it is now a different part of the season and that other sides will get stronger.
"But we will get some young Richmond (AFL-affiliate) boys back. Jay Schulz is only young, Paddy Bowden will provide the experience."
But with the AFL program a week behind the VFL, Coburg will not have access to as many players as it would like from Richmond until next weekend.
"Even the following week with Richmond's injury list, we probably won't go through the finals with the 12 to 10 (maximum AFL/VFL player ratio) that we'd like," Collins said.
Collins praised the Cats, who have few injuries.
"One of the great compliments Geelong should have is that they have had the majority of their list," he said.
"That is great coaching management, physical education management. All credit to their whole program."
Coburg was buoyed by its upset win at Sandringham last round.
"They only had six players from AFL level and we had nine, so I think both squads really got stretched," he said.
Collins said they had built their club around a core of VFL-listed players, including Paul Shelton, Alister Neville, Travis Ronaldson, Jarrod Sylvester and Nat Caruso.
Geelong will provide stiff opposition with Tom Hawkins, Henry Playfair, Todd Grima and Charlie Gardiner in attack and Steven King in the ruck.
The Cats have a quality centreline of Jason Davenport, James Byrne and Ryan Gamble, with David Johnson, Tim Callan and Max Rooke in defence.
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