‘It’s my watch’ Clay Peresso keeps a watchful eye on things from the back line on Sunday. 70586 Picture: Donna Oates
By David Nagel
Football terminology – version 2011.
Defensive zones. Forward presses. Referred pressure. Switching play.
To your average country football supporter, it’s all so confusing.
At Pakenham on Sunday, in the Casey Cardinia preliminary final, Narre Warren hard-nut, Clay Peresso, 28, turned back the clock.
In the first half, when all around him had thoughts swirling around in their heads, Peresso kept it simple and had more impact on the game than anyone else.
Straight ahead footy, respect for the opposition, busting packs open, tackling hard, shepherding and even flinging himself in defence to deny Berwick its first goal is how he did it.
For Peresso, a three-time senior premiership winner with the Magpies, it’s how the game should be played.
“We’ve had a strong back line all year; it’s one of our key factors,” he said.
“We show respect early then build into the game, run off, and for me it’s pretty much straight ahead footy.”
A broken ankle kept Peresso off the field last year and towards the end of this season, he was feeling the pinch.
“Yeah, I was pretty sore, but I had a week off and feel really fresh,” Peresso said.
Now to this week’s grand final against raging favourite Cranbourne, Peresso knows the size of the task at hand.
“They’re definitely the team to beat, it’ll be their second game in five weeks, so they’ll be fresh. We’ve just got to get our bodies right in the six-day break,” Peresso said.
“Last time we played them, we matched them until three-quarter time, and then they got away, we have to concentrate for the whole game”, he said.
And what of Peresso’s mindset going into the big game?
“We’ll show them respect and see what happens,” he added.
