Rediscovered hunger has Roos eyeing September

Anglesea coach Jordan Keras believes his side has rediscovered the hunger that drove last year’s premiership, with the reigning premiers beginning to build momentum at the right time of the season.

The Roos strengthened their grip on fifth spot on the Bellarine Football League ladder with a come-from-behind 12-point win over sixth-placed Newcomb last weekend and now sit 7–5 heading into a double bye.

After conceding seven first-quarter goals, Anglesea responded with 16 goals to nine over the remaining three quarters to claim a crucial victory.

Keras was pleased with the way his side responded.

“We’ve had a group this year where we’ve been trying to get back in games or change momentum, and we haven’t been able to do that very well,” he said.

“The fact that we could do that, and particularly in such an important game, is really promising.”

He said defending a premiership brought a different challenge to chasing one.

“It’s a massive effort to win a flag, and then just continue on with that motivation. It took us a while to realise that we had to still stoke that hunger again,” Keras said.

“We’re starting to get rolling, but you can be humbled pretty quick in a competition like the Bellarine at the moment, so we won’t be getting ahead of ourselves.

 

 

“However, I think with last year, how can it not give us full confidence that if we’re playing finals, we can do some damage.”

The Roos find themselves in a similar position to this time last season, with a strong run home required to lock in a top five spot.

But Keras believes the side is playing more consistent football.

“We’ve got our eyes on obviously continuing to win – we’d like to say there’s still a chance for us to make the top three,” he said.

“It’s going to be a challenge, for sure, but it’s definitely still open at this stage.”

The Bellarine Football League’s competition-wide bye has also arrived at an ideal time for the reigning premiers, with several players expected to benefit from the extended break.

“We’ve got a couple of sore guys, myself included, and we’ve got guys away,” Keras said.

“We already had four guys travel overseas before the double bye, and we picked up three or four soft tissues. They’re all on the mild side, however there’s no way they would have gotten up for this weekend.

“It’s proven to be perfect timing for us.”

Anglesea resumes its premiership defence against seventh-placed Portarlington at home on 18 July.