PIMPINIO is hoping to claim its first under 17s premiership in more than 15 years on Saturday.
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But standing in the Tigers’ way is minor premier Noradjuha-Quantong, a club that has contested the past three under 17s grand finals and won two.
The Bombers dropped just one game for the home and away season, and took the fast route to the grand final after a semi-final win against Natimuk United.
Pimpinio has come from fourth to book a spot in Saturday’s decider.
Though the Bombers beat the Tigers both times they played this season, Noradjuha-Quantong coach Rodney Hogan expects a close game on Saturday.
“We're comfortable but not too comfortable,” he said.
“Both times we've played Pimpinio this season they haven't been at full strength.
“We need to have clean ball use and stick to team structures that we’ve relied on all year.
“It should be a cracker of a game – both sides are playing good footy at the moment.”
Hogan said the fact this year marked four consecutive grand final appearances for the club’s under 17s team spoke volumes about the Bombers’ junior program.
“Our club's had a real emphasis on juniors for a long time – probably the past 10 to 11 years particularly, dating back to the time when Ashley Stacey was around,” he said.
“He was probably the catalyst to start a really good junior program, and we’ve had a number of good people around the club continue that.
“We've had a group of players in the past three or four who are starting to hang around and play senior footy, and hopefully these kids can be part of a successful senior team in coming years.”
Tigers coach Brett Thompson said his team was happy to have a spot in the grand final, and would give it everything.
“It’s the third game in a row we will be the outsiders. We go into the game as underdogs with nothing to lose,” he said.
“Our players have shown a lot of character in the finals.
“We don't really have too many stars, just a really good team overall.”
“It’s probably 17 or 18 years since our 17s have made a grand final.”
Thompson said he had a lot of respect for the Bombers’ junior program and would not be taking his opponents lightly.
“They’ve had strong juniors for a lot of years,” he said.
“They have two or three star players we need to keep an eye on, but we're more focused on our own game and putting everything into that and getting 100 per cent out of everybody.”
