Football
21 August, 2025
Pimpinio ready for Southern Roos
Reigning premiers Harrow Balmoral and the Pimpinio Tigers will go head-to-head on Saturday at Dock Lake Recreation Reserve in the men’s seniors football qualifying final of the Horsham District Football Netball League.
The Southern Roos have persevered through a challenging season, with injuries to key players contributing to the side losing their multi-year winning streak.
But as the season progressed and players continued to return, the two-time defending champions appear to have returned to their best form, posting wins against quality opponents in the Swifts, Pimpinio and Kaniva Leeor in their final three games.
The team eventually finished the home-and-away season with a 14-2 record to comfortably finish second on the ladder.
Acknowledging the injury challenge that met the team, Harrow Balmoral coach Jai Thompson says the season has allowed numerous players to step up.
“Peter Staude and Will Burbury in the midfield were really positive for us and they took on an extra role of leadership and really held us together in there,” Thompson said.
”I think Mitch Grant has gone to a new level and Ethan Appleton.
"Both those small forwards have played some really good, consistent footy throughout the whole year.
“Also, Connor Deutscher from the back line swung forward for us and kicked goals – he's been super-important to us this year just being able to be a swingman.“
After missing finals for several years until 2024, Pimpinio have continued to build in 2025, producing 11 wins and securing a top-three spot.
Pimpinio coach Guy Smith says finishing third is a great accomplishment for the club.
“From a coaching point of view, coming into the club and seeing where they've come from, having to teach them the game, it's all about getting them as high up the ladder as we possibly could to gain respect both among the playing group as well as the football community,” Smith said.
Smith said the achievement was made greater by their own availability struggles.
“Our senior side has been a bit of a revolving door this year,” Smith said.
“We couldn't keep our ideal side together on the park week in, week out, which hurt us a lot.
"Thankfully, we had some depth in the reserve side as well which helped get us through, so as a club it's been a successful year.”
As Harrow Balmoral strive for a historic third straight premiership, Thompson says his team knows nothing is guaranteed and they will embrace another finals experience.
“We're just going to make the most of it and enjoy it because you never know when you'll get back in this position again and be able to go on a good finals run,” Thompson said.
“Our biggest thing will be to really enjoy the moment."
The Southern Roos comprehensively beat Pimpinio 140-76 in round 16 but that hasn’t stopped them trying to elevate their game when they match up again.
“We've got a few things we think really worked against them last time we played them and there's a few things we could do to make it even better,” Thompson said.
“We did a bit of study, a bit of research on that, and I think our game-plan matches up really well against them, our defence matches up well against them.
“It's obviously going to be a challenge with finals footy being a bit of a different beast and we can't really take too much of what happened in the home-and-away season into finals footy.
“They're going to come out pretty hot and heated, the same as we are.”
Smith said focus and intent would be paramount to the Tigers pulling off an upset.
“Harrow’s one of those teams that just really minimise their mistakes,” Smith said.
“They're really good at sharing the ball, they've got a real good intensity at winning the football as well as being able to back each other and share the football.
“We've got to be mindful that they can hurt you rather quickly, and if we're caught napping and we can't either keep control or keep it on our terms then we're going to have to work our backs off to make sure we're trying to shut down their avenues in regard to their goalkicking.”
As well as Thompson being one of the standout midfielders in the league, Michael Close at halfback looms as a key player for Harrow Balmoral.
Some key players to watch for Pimpinio will be Matt Rosier and Tom O’Dwyer, who kicked six goals in the last clash between the sides.