Echuca hunting McMahon Shield three-peat as it takes on Moama in grand final

Having finished atop the ladder, Echuca has the chance at a third-straight McMahon Shield title, although skipper Simon Maddox believes his side won’t be facing the same sort of pressure as its opponents.

“We’ve beaten Rochester and South the last two weeks, who have been in pretty good form, and we beat them well, so we're confident going in,” he said.

“Moama has probably been the form side of the competition the whole way through, they've been on top of the ladder pretty much all year.

“From where I sit they've been the best side all year so probably a little bit more pressure on them.

“It doesn't matter where you finish, you can finish on top of the ladder and if you don't get it done, you don’t get it done, so they’ve been the best side all year, there’s a bit of pressure on them I guess to get over the final hurdle.”

Maddox’s Moama counterpart, Joel Murphy, is fully aware of the might of Echuca, although is confident in the depth of his squad to get the job done.

His side went unbeaten through the first 11 rounds this season, and despite a late form slump that saw it slip to second on the ladder, recent signs have been encouraging.

A hard-fought win over Bamawm-Lockington United at the weekend only served to reaffirm Murphy’s belief in every player on the field, especially given the opening bowling duo of Anthony McMahon and Michael Hill claimed just one wicket between them.

“We highlighted that after the game, that we won, we got through, we bowled a team out for under 200 without our two main guys,” he said.

“Billy Gallagher and ‘Rhysy’ Drennan after tea took five wickets between them I think, and they’re sort of our third and fourth bowlers.

“The fact that they could stand up and do that in a final was really pleasing and shows our depth I guess.”

One thing Moama does lack in comparison to Echuca, however, is grand final experience, which Maddox highlighted as a key factor heading into the weekend.

“We’ve been there and done it the last couple of years, so we’ve got a bit of a free shot at the stumps in that regard,” he said.

“We know what it takes, and we know what we need to do.

“We've got the job done the last two years and hopefully we can turn up Saturday and play our best cricket and it'll be good enough.”

The two sides have met only once throughout the season in a high scoring one-day affair, and while Moama pinched the win in the final over that day, Murphy is expecting a very different look in the decider.

“It’s a bit strange going into a grand final only playing them once in a one-dayer,” he said.

“It was straight after Christmas, and I think both sides were undermanned a bit, so it'll be completely different I'm expecting, but there’s still some lessons to learn from that.”

Neither side is expected to change their XI from the semi-final, with Maddox noting the balanced Moama side has weapons right throughout.

“They bat really deep, they’ve got 11 A-grade cricketers and that’s why they're playing in the grand final,” Maddox said of Moama.

“You concentrate on one or two and someone else pops up and gets under your guard.”

It is a sentiment Murphy shared in regards to Echuca, with the Moama skipper expecting a tough slog between the two competition heavyweights.

“Across the whole 160 overs the better team will find a way, so I think it's just grinding it out and being better for longer,” he said.

“I don't think there's necessarily one big match-up, I think both teams have made the final probably because they’ve got the best sides.

“There's multiple good players on each team, it's not just one or two players like some of the other teams, so I think it'll be a pretty even game.”

Echuca and Moama will fight it out for the McMahon Shield premiership at Windridge Oval in Rochester across both Saturday and Sunday, with play scheduled for a noon start.