Berwick’s Madison Andrews is caked in mud during the Wickers 45-point win over Hampton Park at Reid Oval last week. The highly skilled mid-fielder will join forces with Brad Fowler when they lock horns with Tooradin pair Beau Miller and Matt Wade in Saturday’s clash at Tooradin. 82717 Picture: JARROD POTTER
By David Nagel
Casey Cardinia preview – round 8
Tooradin v Berwick
SEASON DEFINING – the clichéd words used by both Tooradin’s Tom Hallinan and his Berwick counterpart Dean Rice as they head into battle at Tooradin on Saturday.
And they’re absolutely spot on. So many questions will be answered in the most intriguing battle of round eight in Casey Cardinia football.
“We need to beat a team of substance, a team of quality, a team with runs on the board,” Hallinan said.
“That’s the opportunity we get with Berwick this week and I think we’re ready for the challenge. It’ll be a really hard, hard contest and it’s a massive hurdle for us. It’s season defining.”
There are fascinating match-ups all over the ground but none more crucial than the centre square battle, where some big names go head-to-head.
The clash between Tooradin’s Beau Miller and Matt Wade and Berwick’s Madison Andrews and Brad Fowler will be a cracker and go a long way to deciding the outcome of the match. Berwick big-man Vergim Faik is a quality ruckman and his duel with Rohan Hyde and the untapped Jarryd Elton will also be pivotal.
Both teams have key forwards capable of kicking a bag. Nathan Waite has delivered on the big-stage before, and with the Wickers season on the line, expect a big game from the Berwick barometer. Seagull full-forward Julian Suarez lit up round one and has been solid since and Brett Robinson will try to keep him under wraps.
There’s almost an air of uncertainty in Rice’s voice as he heads into the most important game of the year. Wins over cellar-dwellers Pakenham and Hampton Park in the last two weeks can’t camouflage his team’s poor early season form.
“We’re definitely building some confidence but Tooradin will go in as favourites,” Rice said.
“Their form has been better than ours but we’ve had a hard draw, and combined with some poor footy at times, it’s put us in this position,”
“We were 4-3 last year and we’re 3-4 now so there’s not much difference but this is a massive game for us.
“I hate to say it but it is… it’s season defining.”
Berwick has only beaten the bottom three teams on the ladder to this stage, so logic says Tooradin win. But the Wickers will dig deep and get their season back on track by under a goal.
