By Ryan Long
The SBL Wolves are one step closer towards a Division One finals birth after a nail-biting six-point win over the Park Orchards Sharks, 7.8 (50) to 6.8 (44).
It was the second time this season that the Wolves have beaten the Sharks, this time away from home in tough windy conditions. The importance of beating another high-quality side was made even more crucial with the Wolves needing to win every game on the run home to qualify for finals.
Speaking to EFNL.org.au, senior women’s coach Simon Mehegan was proud of the girl’s efforts to hold on against a fast-finishing Park Orchards side in the final term for their fifth win of the season.
“We knew we had to win every game coming out of the Covid break to make finals and to do it against Park Orchards, it was a really gusty win where we had to hold them off against a strong breeze in the last quarter,” he said.
“The girls were very excited given that we knew this is basically the start of our finals.”
Despite the Wolves dominating the majority of the play early, the game remained close at half time. Mehegan put that down to the inaccuracy of the Wolves in the opening term.
“We kicked one goal five, we didn’t capitalise in the first quarter so the strong message at half time was let’s steady ourselves and focus ourselves in front of goals using the wind,”
“We very much knew we couldn’t go back into the third quarter with the breeze doing the same thing, that would have been catastrophic.”
The Wolves had five different goal kickers, a similar number to their round six win against the Sharks.
Mehegan has noted that one of the team’s biggest strengths is that they don’t rely on a single goal kicker by scoring through their run.
“We work on getting goals with leg speed, most of our goals will come from half forwards or midfielders or wingers with plenty of leg speed, that’s the way we aim at scoring.”
Former Hawthorn VFLW player Olivia Flanagan showed her experience and skill yet again, finishing with the best on ground honours, kicking two important majors. Her form this season has been one of the key reasons why the Wolves are a chance at September action.
“She knows where to go, what to do, pretty easy to coach when you have individuals like Olivia Flanagan,”
“She’s really gelled into the team now. Having her come back from such a high level and into this team where she only knew three girls coming in, the more she’s getting involved and spending time with the other girls, Olivia’s really enjoying it.”
Having high level experienced players like Flanagan and Matilda Hardy, also moving from Hawthorn to the South Belgrave-Lysterfield club, have significantly assisted the development of the younger players in the side
“The girls were in awe,”
“Watching how she [Flanagan] goes moving around the ground, how she leads as a forward, how she marks overhead, she brings other players into the game and the way she positions herself around the ground,”
“Since then, they’re all starting to feed and pick up off Olivia, Tilly Hardy on half back as well, she’s come from Hawthorn and Eastern Ranges as well, having her and Olivia has been amazing.”
The side currently sits fifth on the ladder, percentage behind the Boronia Hawks in fourth place.
Mehegan has seen the girls’ skills develop across the course of the last two seasons and has identified what can be improved to see the team take the next step.
“We’re constantly working on improving our movement without the ball,”
“It’s great to have the skills, but we’re working harder at training at how we move around the ground without the ball, putting ourselves in the best positions going forward.”
The Wolves first year in the division has been a successful one as of now, being more than competitive against the other contenders.
“Coming out of a lower division into division one, all we wanted to do was consolidate our spot and have a crack at premier division in further years,”
“Going forward, if we extend our season into the finals, it’s just an added bonus, we’re actually playing at the moment with belief, but without expectation,”
“We’ve beaten Boronia, we’ve beaten the Basin and been within ten points of Ferntree Gully. If we can make finals, we certainly have that belief that we can do whatever we need to do to go a long way.”
With impressive form on the field, the SBL Wolves have also been building a strong culture off the field, right from the beginning of Mehegan’s time at the club.
It’s been a priority of both the junior and senior club, something they’ve spent plenty of time on before they can achieve the success they’re aiming for on the field.
“Culture is everything. When I started this in 2017, the one thing I said right at the very start is that it’s all about culture,”
“The culture attitude is priority one, if you get the culture right, everything else will fall into place.,”
“You don’t go trying to win a premiership straight away, you get the culture right first and then the premierships will follow.”