THERE’S plenty of reasons why Yarrawonga can’t beat Lavington in Saturday’s qualifying final at the Albury Sportsground.
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Pigeons co-coach Chris Kennedy prefers to focus on the reasons they can.
Despite having a combined 10 premierships on the sidelines in Craig Ednie (calf), Tyler Bonat (shoulder), Nick Lawless (knee) and Tim Cooper (AC joint), Kennedy says his new-look Pigeons can take it right up to the Panthers.
When you consider the form of Bodhi Butts, Brayden Coburn, Bronson Schofield, Jess Koopman and Logan Morey this season, it’s easy to see why.
The Pigeons and Panthers have split their matches this season and Kennedy is confident a narrow win in round 17 can be replicated on Saturday – even without their big names.
“I don’t think people realise how tough we’ve had it this year with the injuries to the players we’ve had,” he said.
“Not many sides could cover the loss of Lawless, Bonat, Cooper and Ednie.
“We’ve had no choice but to play kids in big positions and they’ve improved so much.
“It’s been challenging because we’ve floated in and out of games a bit but to finish the season top three and get that double chance, it’s been a successful home and away season.”
Ednie, who will coach Picola league club Rennie next season, remains a chance to feature in the finals if the Pigeons can push deep into September.
Kennedy said the Pigeons opted to play it safe with Bonat and Lawless, who are both likely to return next week.
“If we didn’t have the double chance, we’d definitely play both of them,” he said.
“We’re not taking the double chance for granted but we would hate to play them and then go a couple of players down.
“We haven’t taken chances on our injured blokes all year.”
The Pigeons had some good news at the selection table with key position players Tom Walliss and Brad O’Connor returning to take on the Panthers, who welcome back Justin Koschitzke.
“One thing this Yarrawonga side is, is honest, they’ll do everything you ask and I guarantee their effort will be there on Saturday,” Kennedy said.
“We played well against Lavington last time.
“Both sides know each other fairly well but I suppose we are a bit more unknown without our more experienced players.”