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LEOPOLD enters today’s blockbuster against St Joseph’s in second place, having knocked over fellow contenders St Mary’s and Grovedale in the past fortnight.

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Read about Leopold’s resurgence below. Beneath is a preview of all other matches.

LEOPOLD TAKING THE RIGHT ROAD

By Jason Shields

The fork in the road came on the long trip home from Colac.

Leopold coach Steve Clark sat behind the wheel, having just watched the Tigers belt his team by 111 points, leaving it with a 0-7 win-loss record at the start of their 2013 season.

After playing finals the previous year, the predicted projection for his Lions, both internally and externally, had been north, not so dramatically far south.

“I remember driving back that day and thinking we had a choice to make,” Clark said this week.

“Did we sulk about the position we were in with all our injuries, or did we use it as an opportunity to launch ourselves towards where we still knew we wanted to be?

“We sat as a group on that following Tuesday night and the word ‘resilience’ was the perfect fit. We said to each other that we were not going to let the season go. We knew we had an opportunity to get some games into kids for the rest of the season and still get a lot out of it.”

The playing group embraced the moment. There was no doom or gloom despite finals being out of reach. The remaining 11 games were seen as a golden chance to set themselves up for 2014.

Nothing can fast-track player development better than matchday experience and Leopold seized its unique circumstances to blood and teach kids — a total of 13 under-18s got a taste of GFL senior footy in 2013, while fringe reserves players were also given critical game time.

Results were secondary in the thought process. It was about improving individuals, teaching them roles and learning the systems.

By the time some of their star senior players started returning from long injury lay-offs, the Lions’ onfield fortunes were already turning around.

At the start of the year, a 10th-place finish with a 5-13 record would have been seen as disastrous. But by season’s end, it was greeted with fierce optimism from within the Leopold walls.

“What people think and say from the outside is irrelevant, because we knew what was going on,’’ Clark said about his team’s lowly 2013 finish.

“At 0-7 and with a whole lot of injuries, we could have wasted a year. But we didn’t waste a year, not by a long stretch. It actually set us up.”

Leopold enters today’s blockbuster against St Joseph’s in second place, having knocked over fellow contenders St Mary’s and Grovedale in the past fortnight. And notably, of its eight wins so far this season, one came against Colac in Colac.

For Clark, the drive home this year was not as long.

But in one of the most even seasons in the GFL’s history, complacency will be the last thing that enters his mind as he prepares Leopold for a crack at its first GFL premiership.

The Lions are second on the ladder with 34 points, two points behind ladder leaders Newtown & Chilwell. A further two points behind are Joeys, Colac and St Mary’s, with last year’s grand finalists Grovedale and South Barwon outside the top five.

Of that group, Leopold, Colac and Grovedale have never won senior GFL flags, Newtown won their last in 1986 and Joeys were premiers in 1989.

“It certainly makes it a very exciting competition this year,” Clark said. “We are certainly not thinking we are home in regards to finals by any stretch of the imagination, because it is so tight.

“In this competition, if you don’t turn up, you will get bitten. St Albans and West can beat any team on any given day, so we know how tough the challenge ahead of us is.

“We have made some inroads this year and no doubt the confidence in the group builds when you win at Colac and Grovedale. And it does give you that sense of belonging, but for us, it is more about building that belief in our system.

“Each week, you play someone in a different coloured jumper, so for us it is more about getting ourselves ready to play 100 per cent to our system. I guess a result of when we do that is winning some of those bigger games.”

Leopold’s rise this year has also been built on some savvy off-season recruiting.

The Lions didn’t secure high-profile names, but they landed quality all the same.

Simon Close, the brother of Brisbane-listed player Michael Close, crossed from Portland.

And if he was relatively ­unknown by opposition clubs in April, he isn’t now.

And then there are the emerging kids. The likes of Jye Cross, a former Falcon from Bannockburn, who was named best on ground last week, evidence that he is now feeling more comfortable among the men in the best regional competition in the country.

“We knew at the start of the year that it was going to take a bit of time for these guys to find their feet and understand the way we wanted to play,’’ Clark said about the recruits.

“But it was also for us to understand what was best for them, finding out where they fitted into the mould and what role they would be best suited to.”

It was why there was no panic at Leopold earlier in the year when it suffered big losses at the hands of Newtown and then Joeys.

“I think I even said back then that we just had a bad day,” Clark said about the 76-point Newtown loss.

“But we also knew that we were going to take a bit of time with these young kids and newer guys coming into our system.

“What hasn’t changed is the belief in the direction we are going as a club.

“Personally, I don’t think you can do well at 2 o’clock if your 12 o’clock team is no good, and our 12 o’clock team has been enormous this year, which is a big reason why the club has improved.

“We are consistently getting between 50-55 guys on the track doing the work. There is trust in what is beneath.”

LARA v BELL PARK

THE Dragons will unveil under-18 star Nick Swain for his senior debut today. Swain has been rewarded for a solid season at colts level and will ply his trade off half back. Michael Bright and Ben Kennedy have been ruled out for the Dragons, along with Nick Batchelor, who continues to battle an ankle injury. Batchelor’s problem involves irritation of the ligaments. Lara has form, having knocked off Bell Park in Round 4. “They’ve still got some top-class talent but their forward line has a different look without (Shaydon) Bloomfield,” Dragons co-coach Tim Sheringham said. “They knocked us off earlier this year, so we’ve got to get that one back.”

COLAC v GEELONG WEST-ST PETER’S

RELIABLE Colac utility Kaden Newton brings up his 100th match today when the Tigers host Geelong West-St Peter’s down the highway. The Roosters pushed South Barwon last week and knocked off Lara the week before, so the fourth-placed Tigers cannot afford to just roll up and expect to win. In a remarkably tight battle, just two games separate first from sixth on the GFL ladder and today’s matches across the region should again trigger a reshuffle of the standings. The Tigers should regain James Linton and Jake Carmody, adding to the Roosters’ headaches as the visitors also plot a way to stop Jake McGuane, who kicked eight goals in the teams’ Good Friday match and is coming off successive bags of seven.

NEWTOWN & CHILWELL v GROVEDALE

THEY met in Round 4 but when Newtown & Chilwell and Grovedale play again today, it will be like a new introduction according to Tigers star Adam Donohue. “We got them (by nine points) last time but we’re a different side now,” he said. “And they didn’t have Joel Corey.” Donohue, who kicked six goals in that game, said his group had changed shape with Nathan Deans (overseas) and Jarrod Young (knee) missing from the side. “We’ve lost a bit of experience,” he said. “But on paper, we’re still a fairly good side.” Grovedale has won four of its past six but has fallen victim to the top-of-the-table log-jam, dropping to sixth. “We just have to keep things simple and do the basics well,” Donohue said.

LEOPOLD v ST JOSEPH’S

ST JOSEPH’S captain David Fawkes will play his first match of the season after a long recovery from a broken arm. Fawkes suffered the injury in Joeys’ last practice match but had a setback when he tried to make a speedy return in time for the Anzac Day clash. “We’re not saying he’s going to make a huge difference straight away, but he loves a contest and it’s great to have your leaders back,” coach Heath Jamieson said. The match promises to be a belter. Joeys were the last team to beat Leopold, back in Round 4, and since then the Lions have made their charge. “We rate Leopold as a really even side,” Jamieson said. “The game is going to be close. We’ve got that confidence that if we play at our best we should be right in it.”

SOUTH BARWON v NORTH SHORE

SOUTH Barwon will unveil a debutant in today’s clash with North Shore. Ryan Jacobi, who has played eight matches in the reserves, will come in for his first senior match. “He had earnt his spot with hard work,” Swans coach Warwick Knuckey said. “He’s a hardworking, honest kid and we think he deserves his opportunity. He’s a good in-and-under footballer.” Jacobi is one of two changes for the clash, with Luke Davis promoted from the reserves. Kal Dubbeldam and Mark Hoare (both away), come out of the side. “Every game is a mini final for us,” Knuckey added. “We need to win everything to stay in the hunt and they’ll be up and about. Everyone sees it as an opportunity to knock us off.”

ST ALBANS v ST MARY’S

ST ALBANS coach Clinton Proctor doesn’t want to hear about honourable losses. He’s sick and tired of people describing the Supersaints as “competitive” or “improving”. Asked if he was pleased with his side’s performance over the last month, Proctor replied “I’m not”. He added: “I know we’re getting feedback that ‘St Albans has been taking it up to teams’ and ‘St Albans is competitive’ but the fact of the matter is we’ve only won three games. We were close to Newtown, we should’ve beaten Grovedale and we had our chances against St Joseph’s but you have to put it together for four quarters.” St Albans will make three changes, with Ruben Vesikuru, Adam Stirling and Alex Riches coming in for Sam Hawking, Ben Evans and Josh Wilson.

BFL

MODEWARRE v ANGLESEA

DRYSDALE v NEWCOMB

PORTARLINGTON v OCEAN GROVE

GEELONG AMATEUR v QUEENSCLIFF

TORQUAY v BARWON HEADS

GDFL

WERRIBEE CENT v GEELONG WEST

INVERLEIGH v BELL POST HILL

BELMONT LIONS v CORIO

NORTH GEELONG v ANAKIE

THOMSON v EAST GEELONG

BANNOCKBURN v WINCHELSEA

Originally published as LOCAL FOOTY HQ: Leopold taking right road

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