Football
7 August, 2025
Victory the only solution for Swifts
Swifts’ senior football coach Brett Hargreaves has acknowledged that a win against Harrow Balmoral this Saturday is the only sure way to enhance their finals chances with just two rounds to play.
The round 17 Horsham District Football Netball League clash sees the Swifts travel to Harrow and go against an in-form Southern Roos team.
Having struggled with injury for most of the season, the reigning premiers look to be back to their best, as evidenced by quality wins against Kalkee (107-43) and Pimpinio (140-76) in their previous two games.
The sixth-placed Swifts have nine wins, along with the fourth-placed Laharum and fifth-placed Kaniva Leeor, but are slightly behind the Cougars on percentage.
But with Laharum and Kaniva Leeor favoured in at least one of their respective remaining games, and the Swifts taking on Harrow Balmoral and then Pimpinio in round 18, the odds are stacked against the Stawell side.
But Hargreaves views the equation to finals as simple: win both games.
“If we win the next two games, we'll be in form for finals, and if we don't, it wasn't meant to be,” Hargreaves said.
“The maths is pretty straightforward.”
After a hard-fought loss to Laharum in tough, muddy conditions in round 15, the Swifts bounced back with a 115-44 victory over Kalkee last weekend.
Asked if the team was confident following the win, Hargreaves said he believed the team was capable of pulling of some surprise wins, including this week.
“Yeah, we're alive still – it was a good win,” Hargreaves said.
“If we win the next two games, we’re in it.
"It's as simple as that.
“If we can just keep going, things will happen for us.”
Speaking after last week’s win over Pimpinio, Harrow Balmoral coach Jai Thompson said his side should win their next two games against the Swifts and Kaniva Leeor if they were to prove they were a contender.
“We've still got two really good teams to play against, with the Swifts and Kaniva, and both those teams have obviously shown that they can play some really good footy.
“If you can't play these games and win these games, come finals time you're not going to be able to win anyway.”