SWFL 2023: Win or go home for Harvey Bulls and Augusta-Margaret River in virtual elimination final

The loser of Sunday afternoon’s clash between Harvey Bulls and Augusta-Margaret River at the Harvey Recreation Ground will effectively be eliminated from finals contention. Both sides are presently six points adrift of fifth-placed Bunbury (26 points) who are warm favourites to beat Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault on Saturday at Brunswick Oval. Bulls coach Mark Pink was pleased with his side’s 18.6 (114) to 8.7 (55) win over Collie Eagles on Sunday, with a number of players returning from injury. Despite the tense outcome hanging above them, Pink wants his side to think about doing the basics right. “We probably tinkered with our playing style a little bit because of the change in personnel,” he said. “And I believe we’ve had a bit of a new direction at training over the last two to three weeks. Some of it came to fruition against HBL (June 17) but we blew that game due to a lack of discipline and a few other reasons. “For the loser of this week’s game, it’d be pretty hard to make finals after it. “It’s of huge importance to both clubs.” For Augusta-Margaret River coach Matt Jamieson, Sunday provides another chance for his depleted side to gain additional experience. “I think for decent chunks of the last three games, we’ve actually played some good footy,” he said. “Albeit, we’re a little exposed in terms of experience and cohesion of guys who’ve played pretty consistent footy together for a couple of years. “This obviously hurts the make up a little bit from week to week — but we’ve seen some really good improvement.” Elsewhere on Sunday, Dunsborough Sharks host league leaders Busselton at Dunsborough Playing Fields. On Saturday at the Collie Recreation Ground, the Eagles take on Carey Park in the highly-anticipated Indigenous Recognition Game. While the Panthers are likely to record a one-sided victory on the field over the bottom-placed Eagles, the real winner is the unified passion and respect of Indigenous culture from both clubs. At Hands Oval, Eaton take on South Bunbury in an important game, according to Boomers coach Chris Kinninmont. “The Eaton Football Club probably has got the most amount of Indigenous players in the league,” he said. “We wore our Indigenous guernsey about four weeks ago with pride and won that day against Carey Park.” Kinninmont believes the team “grows another leg” when they wear the guernsey, which could bode well for a positive outing against the Tigers. South Bunbury general manager Andrew Roberts said a smoking ceremony would be conducted by Troy Bennell roughly 10 minutes prior to the league game. Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault host Bunbury at Brunswick Oval and will wear an Indigenous guernsey designed by club spearhead Jarrod Humphries.