In George we trust.
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It’s been the mantra behind the Gunnedah Bulldogs’ AFL North West season.
In Saturday’s grand final against Inverell, the Dogs will follow their coach Andrew George into battle.
And as if winning a flag wasn’t motivation enough, George will play his 150th game for the Bulldogs.
While captain Ben Maher said that wouldn’t provide George with added motivation.
“Knowing Georgey, he won’t want to talk about it and he didn’t bring it up last night [Tuesday],” he said.
“He’ll just put it to the back of his head and work on his job and his job is to coach the team to a grand final win.”
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But, Maher said the 21 other players who pull on a red, white and blue jersey on Saturday will all want to win it for George.
“Definitely. He’s the sort of bloke that’s willing to put everything out there for the club. The same as John Woolaston and [players like] that,” Maher said.
“He’s willing to work the extra hours behind the scenes. Not just on game day and on trainings but Mondays, Wednesdays when we don’t actually do anything for the club.
He’s the sort of bloke that’s willing to put everything out there for the club.
- Ben Maher
“He always puts his hand up and hopefully for his sake, we get the win but also play for all the boys out on the paddock.”
Gunnedah’s last-start win not only kept their season alive but breathed life into the side following back-to-back losses to Inverell as they put together 22 players together for the first time in a while.
“The sheds weren’t as stale as they were the last couple of weeks,” Maher said.
“A bit more vibrant, more chat amongst us and you could tell that the boys really wanted to play footy on the weekend and hopefully we take that feeling into the grand final.”
The trip to Inverell is a daunting one with the Saints dropping just the one game there this season.
However, it’s not playing on the Bulldogs’ minds.
“I think we try to ignore it a fair bit but we all know Inverell is a very supportive town and no doubt they’ll have a good group of blokes there at the bar and in the grandstand,” Maher said.
“We’ll put it to the back of our heads and focus on winning the game.”
The grand final is set to kick off at 2pm at Varley Oval on Saturday. Women and juniors will play beforehand.
