Liam Durkin
ANTHONY Hudson voice on.
“Siren could go any second.”
Replace Sydney and Nick Davis with Maffra and Alex Carr.
In eerily similar circumstances to that famous semi-final in 2005, a ball-up at the top of goalsquare at Morwell Recreation Reserve saw Eagles midfielder Alex Carr snap home the winning goal right at the death in Round 14 of the Gippsland League.
If banners back in 2005 read ‘Nick Davis come to save us’, the Gippsland League equivalent might well be ‘Alex Carr raises the bar’.
Carr’s winner gave Maffra just their second victory for the season.
If post siren reactions were anything to go by however, the Eagles’ 8.4 (52) to 7.7 (49) result over potential finalist Morwell meant as much as any Maffra finals victory.
While recency bias will mean Carr’s last gasp effort will be the focus point, that in itself only told part of the story.
Maffra did not score in the first quarter, and were four goals down at the first change.
On a day when Maffra captain, Daniel Bedggood joined Winston Gieschen as the most capped senior Eagle on 253 games, the team wearing red and black snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Equally, Morwell did very well to lose this.
Leading by two points at three quarter time, the Tigers had repeat inside 50s during the last quarter kicking toward the croquet club.
With his side down by three points, a rare forward entry saw Maffra’s Kade Renooy accept a mark from a high ball, before playing on to snap truly.
Morwell responded through Cody Macdonald at the 26-minute mark, and with seconds ticking down, it appeared the Tigers were going to get out of jail.
On the Maffra bench, senior coach Anthony Robbins confided in his assistants that the next goal would more than likely decide the game.
The Eagles worked the ball forward from the next centre bounce, with Carr busting his way through to get a handball out, which saw Bedggood, streaming down from halfback, send a wobbly left foot kick inside 50, which was met by Archer Watt.
Watt played on quickly from the edge of the arc, sending the ball to the hot spot.
A huge pack of players flew, locking the ball up for a stoppage.
Following up from his earlier effort, Carr burst through and attacked the ball after it had bobbled off a few hands and sat nicely for him.
His snap on the right went through and regained the lead for Maffra as the clock ticked closer to 28 minutes.
“I see it, but I don’t believe it”.
Maffra forced enough time out of the remaining minutes to kill the game, with Carr fittingly having the last kick of the match.
Carr was best-on, while James Read, Tom Scott, Ashton Wright, Brayden Monk and Isaiah Butters (three goals) were prominent.
Robbins said the result provided good reward for effort after his team had been on the wrong side of the ledger in some tight losses this season.
“I felt for them (the players), they’d been working pretty hard, hadn’t had the success just to get over the line in a couple of those close ones, but you just have to keep getting better to win those close games and yesterday we got one,” he said.
Speaking of the build-up to Carr’s goal, Robbins said there was nothing the coaching staff could really do in that situation.
“It really just unfolded. We got our numbers forward and hoped something happened,” he said.
Wright had a mighty last term, taking a number of telling marks and rebounding some dangerous forward entries.
Still in under 18s, he has been in the best for the seniors over the last two weeks.
“He’s playing with a maturity beyond his years. He’s been taking charge of the kick-ins so we’re asking some of these guys to play big roles but hopefully the payoff will be in the future,” Robbins said of the young gun.
Addressing the scoreless first term, Robbins said he wasn’t overly concerned as players came in for the huddle.
“We had a fair bit of the ball we just couldn’t get it inside 50,” he said.
“It’s been a problem all year, equalising around stoppage and just being mindful of direct opponent, thought we were better at that after quarter time.”
The emphasis on defence saw the Eagles kick five goals to one over the next two quarters, and close to within two points at three quarter time.
Maffra’s win was made all the more meritorious by the fact they were without leading goalkicker Caleb Calwyn and the Butcher brothers, Danny and John.
While Morwell was tipped to win, the Eagles did match up pretty well, with a lot of the league’s up-and-coming young players on show.
“Their general run and workrate and team ethos is great,” Robbins said of the Tigers.
“I said to the players before the game, they’re the sort of team we want to be like, a team that plays for each other.
“Going into the game we certainly felt comfortable with some of the talent we’ve got that we would be competitive.”
The result should give Maffra confidence, and they now have the chance to play the role of villain for a few teams fighting for a spot in finals, starting with Wonthaggi at home this week.
Max Linton, Aidan Quigley, Burkeley Macfarlane, Boyd Bailey, Brandon Bailey and Macdonald collected the votes for Morwell.
The result looms as one that will have huge ramifications for the Tigers, with the race to September intensifying.
Unbelievably, Morwell has been involved in 17 games decided by 10 points or less since 2022.
While the Tigers are still two points clear in fifth, losing at home to the bottom side was absolutely the last result they could afford.
The disappointment of the result aside, how the last play unfolded could leave Morwell playing-coach Boyd Bailey with his most anguish.
Just how was Carr allowed to waltz through without anyone getting a hand on him?
When you are three points up with a minute left, surely it is bumper bars up at stoppage and lock on.
