The Heathcote District Football Netball League finals are a day away and Lockington-Bamawm United still has two premiership hopes remaining after the preliminary final round.
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Strauch Reserve at Huntly will again host all the action this year, with three football and seven netball premierships to be claimed.
The day’s action will kick off at 8.30am with the 13-and-under and 17-and-under netball.
Following netball games will be held from 10am (15-an-under, B-grade), 11.30am (B-reserve), and 1pm (A-reserve) before the action culminates with the A-grade grand final at 2.30pm.
The first football contest will be at 9.30am, with the under-18s in action, followed by the reserves at 11.20am.
The seniors will hit the park at 2.20pm.
At the weekend LBU discovered its grand final opposition in 15-and-under and 13-and-under netball.
In both cases, the second-ranked side, which the minor premier Cats defeated the previous week, won through.
That means in 15-and-under, White Hills will attempt to topple undefeated LBU, while in 13-and-under it will be Colbinabbin hoping to do the same.
LBU president Greg Brentnall is excited to see the club’s junior netball sides in action in the grand finals and said the club would cheer those teams on from the sidelines.
“It’s always good to have our juniors featuring in the grand finals. We have great buy-in from our junior teams, which is a positive thing for a rural club like ours,” he said.
“They’re coached by some experienced locals, so it’s great to see and having anyone in the grand final is a real highlight of our season.
“We’ll be there bright and early supporting our teams and we’ve had plenty of support already, so it’s been great to see the club rally around them, even with our under-18 footballers in the prelim.”
Seniors
After upsetting league leader North Bendigo by a goal in the qualifying final, Mt Pleasant will look to double up at the big dance for a shot at ultimate glory.
While the Bulldogs have been the clear-cut best side in the competition throughout the home and away season, the Mounts have proved themselves to be big-game players, going undefeated through the finals.
Mt Pleasant senior coach Cam Carter looked ahead to the clash and reviewed the season so far for the Mounts.
“We are happy to have the seniors and reserves in the grand final, we think the back half of the season and run into finals has gone well,” he said.
“We know we’re coming up against a North Bendigo side that are in the same boat, they finished top of the ladder in all three grades, so it’ll be a tough contest.
“The week off has been beneficial for us, we had a training run on Saturday morning to freshen a few bodies up.”
Carter highlighted the excited atmosphere around the club, with multiple teams vying for flags and, while he’s confident his side can get it done, he knows the challenge his players face.
“There’s certainly a positive vibe, the whole club is in a good spot and feeling confident, we’ve got plenty of teams in the grand final across football and netball,” he said.
“It's a who’s who of talent in that North Bendigo side, they’ve got really quality players, premiership players who stand up in big moments.
“We know it’s going to be a tough-fought contest and, hopefully, we can get the better of them as the day unfolds.
“We are certainly confident, once you get to the day, there’s belief, we definitely won’t die wondering.”
A-grade
After being pipped at the post in the past two deciders, Colbinabbin came out with a vengeance this season and has been the yardstick for the competition with an impeccable 17-0 record including its qualifying final win.
Conversley, it has been a hard road for Mt Pleasant, which has a standing record of 13-5, having dropped a game to Elmore early in the season and lost to White Hills and Colbinabbin twice in the home and away season.
While the Demons got the best of it again in the qualifying final, Mount Pleasant got the ultimate last laugh when the two sides met in the preliminary final last weekend, trumping the Demons 40-45 to book its place in the grand final.
Colbinabbin A-grade coach Jen McIntyre reflected on her side’s astounding season while also noting the importance of sealing the deal in the grand final.
“We’ve had a pretty incredible season to go through so far undefeated and, you know, some pretty big wins as well,” she said.
“I don't think anyone's got within 30 goals of us, so it’s been fantastic, but we’ve still got to make sure we win on Saturday.”
McIntyre looked ahead to the meeting with Mount Pleasant and was expecting a good scrap to decide the flag.
“I think Mount Pleasant is a great club, Colbo and the Mounts do have a long-standing rivalry,” she said.
“They're a great team, so we'll go into it expecting them to be dangerous and approach the game like that.
“We respect any opponent that we face and we've approached every game like it's a grand final this season.
“We have beaten them convincingly both times, but a grand final is a different matter.’’
Despite the Herculean task the Mounts will have to overcome, coach Anthea McCleary, likes her team’s chances.
“While we know we're up against it, we don't want to stop now. We are going to give it a red-hot crack on the weekend,” she said.
“It's netball, you get handed the ball every second centre pass. If we protect it and if we put Colbo under enough pressure, stranger things have happened.
“We're excited about the opportunity and, look, at the end of the day, we’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.”