The Gold Coast SUNS VFL side dug deep to secure a three-point victory over Essendon’s VFL side on Sunday, a second consecutive result determined in the dying minutes.
Coach Jackson Kornberg praised his team for the hard-fought win in tough conditions.
“To come away with a win after such an arm-wrestle game is pleasing and hopefully gives the boys confidence that they can win games from all different situations,” Kornberg said.
“We’ve been focusing on raising the bar and lifting the intensity and I thought we really did that throughout the game.
“The conditions were bordering extreme with the huge winds and heavy rain throughout but it was great to see the boys dig in and grind out a really positive win.”
While a full four quarter performance has eluded the side in recent weeks, Kornberg said the team made solid progressions against Essendon.
The task now at hand is to bring that level of intensity from the first bounce and learn to adjust to the momentum swings earlier in-game.
“I thought we made significant gains this week in how we played across four quarters, so the focus will continually be on that,” he said.
“As coaches, and the boys as players, need to be identifying the moments they feel they are dipping so we can be proactive in getting the game back on our terms.”
A goal from Josh Corbett in the final minutes of the match allowed the SUNS to reclaim the lead and take the four points, which now sees them eight wins, six for the season.
“Josh Corbett really stamped himself on this game, he’s kicked 3 goals including the match winner, as well as having 9 marks (5 contested) – which was pretty significant for us in a wet day,” he said.
Around the grounds Kornberg spoke highly of a number of SUNS AFL listed players who continue to put their hand up for senior selection.
“Jeremy Sharp out on the wing was important for us, he’s had 27 disposals and kicked 3 goals, including an extremely important one late to put us within reach - he brings a great energy to the group,” he said.
“Darcy Macpherson has had a positional change the last few weeks and has gone down back and has adapted really well.
“He gave us really good drive out of the back half and defended strongly.
“Elijah Hollands - similar to Darcy - has gone to half back and was a real driver for us down there with regards to our offence.
“We speak a lot about defending first and attacking from there and I thought he did that well.”
The SUNS VFL team will now take on Brisbane Lions VFL side on Sunday from 1:05pm at Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex.
