Echuca 1 finished the regular season in first, just ahead of Echuca 2, and both sides booked their spot in the decider with comfortable semi-final victories.
Despite the sides enjoying similarly successful seasons and Echuca 1 only narrowly winning the regular season head-to-head 2-1, captain Potter was more than happy to give his Echuca 2 side underdog status for the match-up.
“I would say they're (Echuca 1) favourites for sure, they've been proven over a few years now,” Potter said.
“But I think we match up pretty well against them and I think even in the couple of losses we had they haven't been big losses, so we can take a bit of optimism out of it.”
Potter and Echuca 1 captain Charnas are good mates, so there was a strong sense of playful banter in the air as they gave their pre-match insights, with Charnas being humorously bemused by Potter’s favourites line.
“Well, no, I think it's a genuinely pretty close one and they were in the grand final last year and we weren't, so they'd be certainly looking to atone I'd imagine,” Charnas said in response.
Echuca 2 did lose to Rochester in last year’s decider, going down 9-89 to 4-68, but that’s not to say that it will be more motivated than clubmate Echuca 1, which is looking to reclaim the division one title after winning three straight premierships from 2022 to 2024.
Meeting in the grand final is not an uncommon occurrence for the two sides either, having done so in 2023, when Echuca 1 triumphed in a well-fought encounter, 8-80 to 5-77.
The three aforementioned regular season meetings have all been closely contested, though Charnas pointed out that Echuca 1 was not always at full strength and was much more prepared for this weekend’s meeting.
“I don't think we'll have any surprises, we’ve been pretty settled,” he said.
“We’ve got three young kids, so it'll be a great experience for them.”
Meanwhile, Potter is confident in the good combinations Echuca 2 have built and believes his teammates are complementing each other well.
Though both sides are laser-focused on the clash, another perspective on the grand final is that the division one title will be won by an Echuca Tennis Club side, while on Saturday a further three Echuca teams will play in grand finals, including two junior deciders.
Both captains agreed that it is a great sign for the club to see so many teams performing well, particularly at junior level, with Potter, a former club president, attributing this success to the merger of Echuca Lawn Tennis Club and Echuca South Tennis Club ahead of the 2021-22 season.
“The junior side’s really grown, but there's always room to keep growing,” he said.
All Campaspe Tennis Association grand finals will be held at Echuca Tennis Club on Saturday, March 21, with senior grand finals beginning at 1pm and junior grand finals at 9am.
In division two, Colbinabbin is looking to win its first title since 2022 against Echuca 4, which secured back-to-back premierships in 2023 and 2024.
In the junior divisions, Tongala is seeking a third straight title against Elmore 1 in division A, Echuca 9 faces Rochester 5 in division B and Echuca 17 and LBU 4 will contest the division C decider.
