As has looked the case through most of the season, Echuca-Moama sides are well in the hunt for both titles.
However, before the flags can be claimed, potentially treacherous semi-final matches must be negotiated.
Nathalia Recreation Reserve will be the home of the semi-final round in both leagues, with a blockbuster four-game slate scheduled this Sunday, August 2.
Echuca United, which finished second in the girls, kick off the day at 10am, taking on third-ranked Shepparton United.
The 1 versus 4 clash between minor premier Moama and Barooga then follows at 11.30am.
The women’s action begins at 1pm, with Shepparton United taking on Rumbalara, before Echuca finishes the action against Nathalia at 2.30pm.
The Murray Bombers edged into the minor premiership with a win over Shepparton United in the final round, avenging their only defeat of the year against the Demons in May.
“We’re hitting our straps at the end of the season,” playing coach Kate Dixon said.
“We’ve got better structure, the girls have developed and our culture has brought everyone along and everyone’s shining, doing what they need to do and believing in the process.”
The game, played following the senior men’s game on Saturday and on the club’s ladies day, had one of the bigger crowds the league has had this season.
“The support that we had from the club was unreal and to play under lights and have a big crowd around even though the weather was bad,” Dixon said.
“People still hung around for the girls, which was really good, it meant something to us all.”
Dixon said Echuca approached governing body AFL Goulburn Murray with the idea for the special scheduling and thinks the women’s league would benefit from pairing more fixtures with the men, especially when the sides play similar opponents.
In a year with a heavy turnover of personnel, only six players returned from last year’s premiership, the Murray Bombers have shown their quality to remain one of the dominant forces in the league.
“I was very emotional after the game on Saturday night because I was really proud of what we’ve developed,” Dixon said.
“Five months ago there were three of us that sat around a table deciding whether we were all going to play or not.
“It’s taken getting out there and inviting people to come along and then creating that culture where they want to stay and don’t want it to end.
“We’ve had to volunteer a lot of time, but we’ve just created that family environment now.”
Echuca faces a familiar foe in the semi-final, having contested three straight grand finals against Nathalia from 2021-23.
The Purples claimed the 2021 and 2022 titles before the Murray Bombers finally broke through in 2023.
This year, Nathalia will be the heavy underdog, possessing a record of 6-6 to Echuca’s 11-1 and having lost the only meeting between the teams this season 59-7.
“Their season’s been a little bit more up and down, but you always respect the opposition because you never know what can happen,” Dixon said
“Nathalia is still a quality side, they’ve won premierships and they know what it’s like to play finals, so I think it’ll be a really hard hit-out.”
In the girls league, Moama and Echuca United had been the presumptive grand finalists before the weekend’s final round, where Shepparton United and Barooga opened the door for a potential upset, scoring wins over the top two.
The teams have now swapped opponents for the semi-finals where the Echuca United and Moama outfits will look to right the ship after being comfortably the best sides all year.
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