Oakleigh Cannons assistant coach Franz Weimper has dismissed any notion that his side may be looking ahead to a potential showdown with South Melbourne following a convincing 3-0 win over Pascoe Vale on Sunday.
The win momentarily put Oakleigh within four points of the ladder leaders, a slim hope of challenging for the title.
Taking a leaf out of head coach Miron Bleiberg’s book of eccentric analogies, Weimper made it clear in no uncertain terms that the Cannons were solely focused on more immediate challenges.
“It was a big game not because of South Melbourne’s [midweek loss], but a big game for us because of our result,” Weimper said.
“It’s like in tennis – no good breaking one’s serve if you can’t hold your own.
“We have to look after ourselves at the moment.
“Do we think about it? Like anyone, you go in at the start of the year and you have to achieve something, but at the moment, all we’ve done is got ourselves in this situation [second place] – that’s as far as we’ll think.”
Having conceded goals in their previous four contests, the assistant coach was pleased by the clean sheet, with his side settling after early nervous moments to mostly restrict Pascoe Vale to long-range efforts.
“The objective is to score one goal and don’t concede to the opposition – everything else is a bonus,” he said.
“It’s always a special bonus from the coaches and the players point to keep a clean sheet.
“You have to be respectful because this is a good competition, when you play Pascoe Vale, you have to be prepared to go to war – they’re a team that will take you to war.
“From a coaches point, we look at not just what’s happening with the ball, but off the ball, so I think it was just all around a good performance, including the guys off the bench that made a good impact.”
Weimper was also philosophical about Oakleigh’s season objectives, conceding that while the team had perpetual ambitions for top state honors, such an achievement was not always possible.
“Everybody wants to be successful but the reality is only one team can, if it’s not about the result, why do you keep score? You set yourself an objective to be successful,” he said.
“But you’ve got to be realistic, we’re just another one of these ambitious clubs.
“Sometimes it’s like going to a dance with your sister – you’re in the game, but no result.
“At this stage, we’re in the running. We have to look after ourselves and do what we did today and keep working hard, and at the end we can count all the points and if we have the most we get the gold medal.
“I understand for the neutrals and supporters, they get all hyped up and hyper. But for us it’s about stepping away from the emotion.
“We are just going to prepare to do what we always do, as good teams do.”
Oakleigh currently sit seven points adrift of top spot, albeit with a game in hand, and travel to face Werribee on Sunday.