Mt Barker hopeful defensive duo right for GSFL preliminary final, Albany unlikely to regain Tait McLean

Mt Barker coach David Johnson is confident his side can bounce back and reach their first grand final since 2016 when they face a dangerous Albany side in the Great Southern Football League preliminary final at Sounness Park on Sunday. The Bulls are coming off a 25-point qualifying final loss against Railways and will have to overcome a hungry and confident Sharks side that defeated Royals in their elimination final last Saturday. Despite not trailing by more than 12 points in the first three quarters, the Bulls were overrun by the Tigers and held scoreless in the final term prompting Johnson to call for a four-quarter effort this week. “We’ll have to address it, throughout the year it was a strong feature in our game, we were able to kick up a gear and run games out strongly,” Johnson said. “It’s certainly dropped away in the last couple of weeks. “The guys have been made fully aware that you won’t win finals unless you play four quarters so we’ll just have to get into that mindset this weekend and work towards achieving that goal.” The second-year coach said clean possession and combating the Sharks’ game style would be key factors. “We just need to address a couple of things, we didn’t use the ball as well as Railways at critical times on the weekend and it put our backs under pressure,” he said. “We’ve got to take some responsibility up the ground to alleviate that and stick to our game style. “Obviously the two teams are very different, the Sharks play a very manic, running type of game, we have to make sure we address that. Our players have to know when to go and when to hold, which is something that we’ve trained. “Identifying triggers in the game to slow it down and when the opportunity is there to increase the tempo, we have to take those opportunities.” Johnson says star defenders Brent Parsons (knee) and Darcy Wallinger (calf) remain doubtful to play on Sunday. Sharks coach Jamie Ramm is excited at the prospect of creating more history with his side and securing a maiden grand final berth. “As a club I suppose last year we won an elimination final so our aim now is to definitely go one step further and win a preliminary final,” he said. “Definitely, they’ll be looking at our better players and we’ll be looking at theirs. “You don’t want to become too defensive but we’ve got to keep an eye on their main players.” Sharks captain Tait McLean remains unlikely to return from a hamstring injury for the clash. “It’s (the team) going to be fairly unchanged, we’re doing everything we can to get Tait (McLean) to play but he’s still doubtful at the moment,” Ramm said. “We’ll train on Friday night and then we’ll make a decision from there” Ramm said. “We’re still throwing around a few different names but we’ll also look to see what the weathers like as well. “There’s some sore bodies but I think we’re gonna be OK.” Ramm identified stopping Bulls ruckman David Stone would go a long way to winning the game. “We’ve got a few options at the moment that can go through there, he’s (David Stone) a very good ruckman so we’re gonna have to be right on our game,” he said. “We’ve got big Stewart Davies and a few others that can drift through there as well, but they’ll have to be on their game, because he’s up there with the best ruckmen in the league.” he said. The preliminary final will start at 2.30pm at Sounness Park.