The Reserves are currently in fifth spot on the AFL Canberra ladder and need to win, and have other results go their way in the last round of the competition to qualify for finals.
Queanbeyan’s 59-point win over Ainslie last weekend put them into fourth spot on the ladder, two points ahead of the Swans. The Swans need Eastlake to beat Queanbeyan to jump back into the top four in time for finals, which start next weekend.
Brabazon says that the team knows how vital this weekend’s match is, and hopes they can lift so they have a chance to win their fifth consecutive AFL Canberra title.
“Obviously it’s a big game for us, we’ve got to win this game to be a chance to make the finals so everyone knows how important it is and everyone’s looking forward to it really,” he said.
After being 12 points down at three quarter time last weekend, the Swans ended up losing to the second placed Eastlake team by 46 points.
Brabazon says that a lack of consistency across the four quarters let the team down last Sunday.
“We weren’t really able to sustain it for four quarters. Our last quarter we really dropped away and they piled on a few goals and ended up beating us pretty convincingly.”
The Reserves team has been inundated with injuries throughout the season, with players including Brendan Murphy, Matthew Laidlaw, Daniel Currie and Tim Schmidt all missing a significant portion of their respective seasons.
But Brabazon says that this hasn’t been the “be all and end all” and that as long as the team is playing well together it doesn’t matter how many listed players take to the field.
“We’ve been able to field a fair few Swans players every game and I think we’ve won games with only eight Swans players… We can still play good football regardless if we have eight players or if we have 13 (listed) players.
“We don’t really look at that (injuries) too much, it’s more about the guys that get to play, and playing well,” he said.
The 23-year-old has managed to play two seniors games so far this season, and hopes to continue this in the near future.
“I would have liked to play more senior football (this year) but hopefully I’ll just keep working hard on the things that I have to and push my way back into the senior team.”
Brabazon can see similarities between the 2009 season and last season for the Reserves, where the Swans had to play every week of finals and eventually won the title by one point against the Belconnen Magpies.
And if all things go to plan this weekend, Brabazon is confident that the team can go a long way in the finals series.
“I think so. I think if everyone plays their role and turns up to play on the day I think we can give it a shake.
“Obviously we can only take care of what we control, I think first for us is just to win the game of footy and see how the results pan out and hopefully they go in our favour.”
