YARRAWONGA is counting the cost of a disastrous 11-goal qualifying final loss to Lavington with star swingman Marcus McMillan facing a battle to play again this season.
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McMillan limped from the Albury Sportsground 19 minutes into the second quarter of the Pigeons’ 16.10 (106) to 5.10 (40) loss with what appeared to be a serious calf injury.
With Craig Ednie (calf), Tyler Bonat (shoulder), Nick Lawless (knee) and Tim Cooper (AC joint) already on the sidelines, the Pigeons could ill-afford to lose another experienced player.
And it showed on the scoreboard.
The Panthers piled on 14 goals to two between the 15-minute mark of the first term and just before the final siren, when Brad O’Connor kicked his third major for the day.
The Pigeons’ defence has been one of their strong points all season but with McMillan off the field, they were powerless to stop Luke Garland, Adam Prior and Justin Koschitzke, who all finished with three goals each.
Bodhi Butts and Matt Gorman were four-quarter performers for Yarrawonga but there were few other highlights for the Pigeons, who must quickly regroup to avoid a straight sets finals exit.
“They were too good for us today, Lavi,” Pigeons co-coach Chris Kennedy said.
“After quarter-time they just got control and momentum and we never really got it back.
“They’re a pretty experienced finals side.
“They’ve obviously experienced a bit of pain over the years, Lavi, and some say you’ve got to experience a bit of pain.
“Our side’s experienced a bit of finals success but the kids haven’t played a lot of finals.
“Two weeks ago we beat that side and today we didn’t play well.
“If we play well next week we’re a big chance of winning but if we play like we did today we’ll be out.”
Kennedy conceded McMillan had his work cut out to play again this season but expected Bonat and Lawless to return for next Sunday’s first semi-final.
The Pigeons trailed by 22 points when McMillan, who started forward, went off the field after attempting to take off on a lead and his absence enabled the Panthers to shift Brant Dickson onto O’Connor, who kicked two first-quarter goals.
“Losing ‘Motor’ hurts our flexibility,” Kennedy said.
“He’s one that makes every other coach react.
“I probably lost my ace in the pack (when he went off).”
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