Posted on 6 August, 2009

Cobras veterans DJ Taylor, Adam Jackson, Jon Lee and Mick Wheeler were part of at least one of those defeats and will be keen to end the impressive run of grand final appearances for the Braves.

Both teams have had disrupted seasons, having to release players during the journey.  The Cobras (15-12) gained the required momentum in the second half of the season winning seven of their last nine games. While Bendigo (11-16)  struggled towards the end, losing three straight and only scrapping into finals when the Cobras defeated Ballarat last Sunday.

The teams have played twice this season with Kilsyth winning 101-81 on the  road in the opening round of the season before the Cobras again got the points in a 110-95 win at home. Kilsyth mid-season signing Tim Lang played in neither of these games and will surely be a tough match up for the Braves in his first finals series.

Lang (10.9ppg, 7.9rpg) along with League MVP contender Joe Werner (21.8ppg, 13.6rpg) have had stellar seasons and proved a challenge for opposition teams to defend. This will not change on Saturday night, with the pair sure to cause Braves Head Coach Wayne Larkins plenty of problems.

Following the release of import Matt Trannon the Braves have relied on their other import Keith Davis (8.7ppg, 5.8rpg) and Chris Novak (10.4ppg, 7.0rpg) to lead their front court.  Davis had his best game of the season against the Cobras in May finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

These two will likely get the Lang-Werner match up and will be looking to restrict the big duo.

Adam Tanner is the 3rd former junior Cobra to line up with the Braves after Jon Croft was part of the 2005 Braves team and Mick Hill won the title with Bendigo in 2007. Tanner will join Davis and Novak in trying to contain the Cobras front line.

The key for Kilsyth in this game will be to contain the Bendigo guards while ensuring that Leonard, Shanahan, Wheeler and Jackson can have an impact at the offensive end.

Kilsyth also has one of the Leagues best defenders on its roster in Quincy Henderson who has shut down some of the Leagues highest scoring players in 2009. Despite not being a high scoring threat, Henderson has provided the much needed defensive toughness and ability to lock up the oppositions best scorer.

For the Cobras to be most effective they will need Leonard (15.6ppg) to fire at the offensive end and his form coming into finals is just where it needs to be.  After a slow start to the season Leonard has picked up his scoring rate with three straight 20+ point games and 30 points against NW Tasmania this past weekend.

If Kilsyth can continue with the same defensive commitment they have shown over the second half of the season and restrict the Braves to under 90 points they should be able to book themselves a preliminary finals berth next weekend.

Should they win they will be on the road taking on the loser of the Brisbane-Knox match up, for a place in the Conference Final.

Tip off against Bendigo is scheduled for 7.30pm, stay tuned to www.cobras.net.au for all the SEABL finals analysis following the game.