But to get another shot at the Ky juggernaut, the Murray Bombers have to do it the hard way.
The road to a potential grand final starts on Sunday afternoon in Benalla against Rochester.
Echuca co-coach Simon Maddox said his side was ready for the pressure of a do-or-die finals contest
"The stakes go up a little bit higher now," he said.
"You have a bad afternoon, you even have a bad 30 minutes and it's pack your bags and see you next year, so there is a lot of pressure for us going into the match, it's an exciting match for us."
The Murray Bombers will be taking confidence out of their performance against Kyabram, but know they will need to take an extra step to get the win.
"We played our best footy for three quarters on Saturday against Ky, probably more than three quarters and it showed what we are capable of. But we didn't get the chocolates because we didn't maintain it for the entire contest.
"We know if we are going to get the win then we are going to have to put our best football on the park, be first to the football and be hard around the contest we are able to get the win.
"We aren't the most polished side in the competition, we know that. But we are a tough side, we compete hard for the football and it serves us well, so we need to bring our best football to the game."
Early in the season, Rochester was an opposition many in the GVL had written off after the Tigers started 0-4.
Echuca has claimed the honours twice this season against their local rivals, but Rochester coach James Flaherty knows anything can happen in September.
"We know Echuca will come out firing but funny things can always happen at this time of year," he said.
"There is no doubt we're the underdogs but we're not going to go down without a fight. We've won five games on the trot so there is quite a bit of momentum behinds us."
The question for many is the inclusion of key defender Cam Valentine, who missed the Kyabram clash with a calf complaint.
"Cam had a minor injury a few weeks ago, missed a game against Shepparton Swans and came back into the side the next week," Maddox said.
"Cam had no complaints after the game and was fine after training in the build up for Ky, but pulled up a bit sore before the game.
"It's a really slight tear, so he's spent time this week in Melbourne getting it looked at and we will put him through a fitness test before the game.
"If he gets through the fitness test he will play, but the advice is he will be 100 per cent next week."
A victory will see the Bombers clash with the loser of Kyabram and Shepparton in next week's preliminary final.