JUNIOR footballers will be playing for one thing – the Wimmera Football League premiership – at Dimboola Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
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Under-17s
Ararat v Horsham Saints
ARARAT has been dominant in the Wimmera league’s under-17 division.
The Rats finished the season as undefeated minor premiers and disposed of their grand final opponents, Horsham Saints, two times during the home and away season and once in finals.
This will be the Saints’ second consecutive year in the grand final – they lost to Horsham 8.10 (58) to 4.10 (34) in the 2016 decider.
The Saints were on the receiving end of a drubbing by the Rats in the semi-final – they lost to the tune of 159 points.
Even though the Saints did receive the flogging by the Rats, they have five key players returning to the fray.
Four of these players had senior duties to attend to for the semi-final clash and will make a huge difference.
Forward Nick Caris, midfielder Angus Gove, defender Brayden Helyar and Mitch Martin will return to the Saints list for the grand final.
Captain Jarred Morris will also rejoin the team. He missed the semi-final due to a knee injury.
Saints coach Gary Davidson said his team was pleased to have all the players together again.
“We will try and do our best to come away with a good result,” he said.
The Rats have been notably potent in the forward line with league leading goal kicker Cori Corrigan slotting 72 goals for the season.
“We’ll try throw a few different things at them,” Davidson said.
Davidson said the game would be won by the younger players in each team.
“Keeping territory will be very important,” he said.
“They are going to get the ball into the forwards. The key will be working on those territories and shutting them down. Pressure around the midfield will be important.”
Davidson said the Rats had a variety of tall, medium and small players along with a lot of depth.
“They are a strong team with a lot of depth,” he said.
Rats coach Matthew Summers said he had been encouraging the team to embrace the occasion and not shy away from it.
“I have been emphasising the last couple of weeks it is not just another game – they have to embrace that it is different game,” he said.
“We are playing Horsham Saints at Dimboola an hour earlier than normal, so it is different, but once the ball is bounced then it will be just another game of football.”
Summers said his team should handle the pressure of the grand final well.
“I think that expectation and pressure will be there for the group,” he said.
“Whether it is internal or external, I do not know, but as we know grand finals are different ball game and the team will need to be ready.
“We have just been concentrating on the basics and making sure we play as a team and hopefully that happens on Saturday.”
Under-14s
Horsham v Horsham Saints
AN all-out Horsham battle will take place in the under-14 grand final when Horsham locks horns with Horsham Saints.
Forty-four points or more was the difference on all three occasions when the two teams met during 2017.
Two of the games were played in the home and away season while one was played in the semi-final.
The Saints pulled the short straw in the semi-final, going into the game with a perfect record.
They lost out to the Demons, a team they had beaten twice this year, 8.10 (58) to 2.2 (14). It was their first loss of 2017.
Demons coach Craig Heard said his team had gradually improved throughout the season.
“Our work ethic has improved, our intensity, our play and the way we run through a game has been good too,” he said.
“(The Saints) have good quality kids across the board so well will have to be mindful of everyone.”
Heard said he hasn’t changed anything coming into the grand final and has tried to keep everything as normal as possible.