South Tamworth captain Mitch Smith has said the form malaise of misfiring strike weapon Tom O’Neill is partly due to him being “too good”, a frustration the skipper hopes ends in this weekend’s grand final against Old Boys at No.1 Oval.
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Because if big Tom, a NSW Country rep this season, bounces back to his best, Souths’ chances of ending their horror run of five straight grand final losses – the past four to Old Boys – will be substantially improved.
In a bid to solve the form dilemma, Smith shifted O’Neill, whom he regards as Tamworth’s quickest bowler, from opening the attack to first change in the minor semi-final win over City United and to second change in the preliminary final win over West Tamworth last weekend.
O’Neill took two wickets in both those matches. This season he has taken 16 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 26.6 and a strike rate of 51.9.
Last season he took 32 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 15.03 and a strike rate of 35, after taking 37 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 14.32 and a strike rate of 35 the preceding season.
Smith said: “The guy plays country rep and he obviously is a weapon with the ball, but he’s not taking bags of wickets. So we’re just trying to figure out a combination or a timing and a style of bowling that gets him bags, because he deserves bags of wickets.
“Often we say [he is] too good for the opposition. He often beats them by too much. It’s just one of those things.
“And that’s why we’ve brought him back to first change, to sort of change it up a bit instead of just bowling express and trying to knock blokes’ heads off, try to think a little more about what we’re doing.”
Smith joked that he hoped Old Boys opener Simon Norvill, who struck a 35-ball century in his last innings, would be in good enough form this weekend to edge O’Neill.
Smith regards his decision to drop O’Neill down the bowling order as a sign he has matured as a captain, in his debut season leading the side.
He admits to being somewhat surprised but “hugely honoured” when then-skipper Tom Groth passed the reins to him. The Tamworth High teacher is in his third season at Souths after moving to Tamworth from Terrigal for a sea change.
The 34-year-old had captained first grade in Terrigal, without mirroring his success at Souths. “It’s not like he [Groth] did a bad job at all, like getting to all those grand finals. But he just figured it [the captaincy change] might be worth a try.”
The return of James Hammond, who has taken 17 wickets at an average of 10.8 this season, means Souths will be at full strength for the grand final. Hammond missed the finals against City and Wests.
Old Boys skipper Ben Middlebrook said the four-time defending premiers would have been at full strength had Joshua Worpel played. The injured Worpel has not played since early last month.
Middlebrook said if Old Boys tapped the form that saw them dismiss Wests for 37 in the major semi-final, he “can’t image Souths will do well with the bat”. He added: “But Souths are a good team. We’ll see how we go.”
He said “probably” when it was suggested that Old Boys had Souths’ measure psychologically.
