Somehow, with a win-loss ratio of 1-2 after three rounds, Hepburn coach Jason Olver felt his team wouldn’t drop another game for the rest of the season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He even told this journalist mid-way through the year of his confidence levels.
And he was right.
On Saturday afternoon, standing in the rooms at Mars Stadium following the grand final success against Beaufort, Olver said it again to the players.
It was part of his post-match address to the group, which had just lifted the Central Highlands Football League premiership cup with a 16th-straight victory.
“We lost to Daylesford and I dropped eight players that week. I brought blokes in against Bungaree and we lost that week, but the talent I had like the Jackson Liversidges and that to come into the side, what they showed to me and what the recruits showed to me that day when I was speaking to them, you could see the devastation on their faces,” Olver, the former president and flag-winning under-18 and reserves coach, said.
“So I knew I had a lot to work with and I knew I had a lot of skill to work with. It was just a matter of belief and putting it back into the group that we are a good side.
“I really thought ‘we are not going to lose another game’. We couldn’t afford to lose any more to finish top four and that was the goal. As we started to (keep winning), I just thought we were going to do something special here.
“It’s not being cocky, I just had that belief.”
Olver said he was confident his side could hit back after Beaufort’s third-quarter surge closed the margin to within a goal at the last break.
He said the Crows’ third quarters had proven their best during the year, but knew the Burras had been stronger in fourth terms across 2017.
And that’s how it panned out as the Hepburn boys kicked three goals to one and then closed down the game in the last few minutes to ensure victory.
Olver said he wanted his group to remain calm and collected at the last change while Beaufort played on the emotion by gathering in front of its excited fans.
“They had all of the emotion, there’s no doubt, but our supporters really got going as well,” he told The Courier after the match.
“But we had some things to talk about at three quarter time so it’s just about being focused. Sometimes emotion can go too far. You have still got to be focused on what you’re trying to achieve. And we did it.”
Olver announced he would not be continuing in the senior coaching role early this season and Saturday’s result brings the curtain down on a memorable two-year tenure in the role.
“It’s all over now for me and I’ve gone out on a high,” he said.
