The Courier |HEPBURN steamrolled Ballan by 68 points on Saturday with a slick display on the eve of finals footy.
The Burras built pressure on the scoreboard right from the first bounce and Ballan was under siege.
Hepburn's firepower came from ball magnet Andy McKay, who booted four majors.
McKay was ably backed up by Tom Conroy, Michael Watt, Jimmy Rodgers and Travis Minns, who kicked two goals each.
Watt was awesome in the ruck and handy in front of goals. Brendan Sutcliffe shared some of the duties with Watt and was rewarded with a major of his own.
The Blues felt the bite of Hepburn players like Ricky Ferraro, Brad McKay, Segilifi Asa Leausa, Joe Clarke and Tanner Wills.
The Burras’ Finn Anscombe, Steve Carmen and skipper Dan O'Halloran were unstoppable.
Ballan started off undermanned, with coach Mark Williams and Zac Peoples surprise withdrawals from the team's list.
Both were rested after a battering the week before against Buninyong.
Two under-18 players – Mason Currie and Rick Wilkie – got a call-up to seniors.
Goals were scarce for the Blues, but Michael Snaith snagged two of the team's six majors.
The Blues weren't completely dead in the water and got great drive from Sam Hitchings, Shaun Campbell, Dylan Galea, Jake Wilkinson, Daniel Nielsen and Lachlan Herring.
The Ballan oval was sticky and mucky with mud and the first to be baptized in the goo was Hitchings. He was unceremoniously dumped in front of the clubhouse and covered head to toe.
Hepburn coach Clive Raak saw the win as a continuation of the progress the week before.
"It's where we left off from last week, I suppose. We played consistent football. We're heading in the right direction. It was a good hit-out for us,” Raak said.
"We do understand that they had two good players out, which probably wrecks their structures a bit. But we were good all over the ground.”
The Burras coach also pointed to some difficult decisions in picking a finals side ahead of the knockout clash against Beaufort next weekend.
Williams said he and Peoples were out of the side because of general soreness and it would allow them to freshen up for the elimination final against Waubra.
"Today turned out to be a bit of a dead rubber. But the home and away season is over. The fun begins next week," Williams said.
Hepburn’s final is at Bungaree on Sunday, while Ballan travels to Learmonth on Saturday.