NORTH Tamworth halfback Dean Ellison has gone about his recent footballing business quietly but with great effect and will be a vital cog in the North Tamworth wheel in Sunday’s Group 4 grand final clash with West Lions at Scully Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ellison, a former Western Reds player in Perth, has strengthened the Bears with his tactical kicking game and superior option-taking.
North coach Matt Munro praised Ellison’s recent contribution in the big games.
“Ello’s form at halfback and his kicking game have been vital,” Munro said.
“He came over to us as a personal favour to me just to help out and he’s really picked up in the last couple of weeks. He’s going very well.”
At Norths’ training session last night the players seemed focused on the job at hand.
There’s certainly no hype over at Jack Woolaston Oval this year. Far from it.
“There’s a totally different attitude,” Munro said.
“The way we’ve played after some internal trouble a month ago is tremendous.
“We’ve locked down together as a team and built momentum from it.
“It’s shown by the way we went out west and beat those teams (Wee Waa and Moree) that we played out there.
“The confidence is there and the mateship is good.”
Munro and the Bear players all pinpoint defence as the cornerstone of their recent triumphs.
Nothing will change on Sunday.
“If we focus on what we want to achieve then that’s more important than worrying about what Wests are going to be doing,” Munro said.
“Our defence is creating some points for us in attack because we’re doing so well in that area.
“I expect that attitude to be there on Sunday.”
Munro conceded Norths wouldn’t be able to let West Lions hooker Mick Schmiedel scheme away from dummy half like he did in last year’s grand final.
“Obviously Mick is very dangerous out of that position,” Munro said. “Like we said with Ewan McGrady, the same goes for Mick Schmiedel and Mark Frankel.
“We know they’ll cause some trouble at some stage but we’ve just got to limit their opportunities as much as possible.”
Norths will field an unchanged lineup from last week’s winning combination over Moree.
“There might be a few bumps and bruises but at this stage it’s the same squad as last week,” Munro said.
“The least amount of changes the better. But I couldn’t question anyone’s form from number one to 18.”
WEST LIONS: 1 Will Jerrard, 2 Dean Hoy, 3 Nick Leonard, 4 A. Loveday, 5 Grant Baker, 6 Anthony Heeney, 7 Darren Coleman, 8 Brad McManus, 9 Mick Schmiedel, 10 Adam Miller, 11 Brad Smith, 12 Craig Power, 13 Mark Frankel, 14 Shane O’Donoghue, 15 Chris Allan, 16 Craig Thomas, 17 Rangi Davis, 18 Adam Pascoe, 19 Jack Uren.
NORTHS: 1 Lonnie Hatch, 2 Jamie Trindall, 3 Justin Baker, 4 Ray Berry, 5 Mark Hindmarsh, 6 Gavin Galvin, 7 Dean Ellison, 8 Peter Moodie, 9 John Johnson, 10 Corey Underwood, 11 Matt Munro, 12 Brock Hunter, 13 Aaron Mitchell, 14 Ben Surtees, 15 Cameron Lewis, 16 Mark Macauley, 17 Adam Hawkins, 18 Brett Walsh
