During the finals campaign, some Wimmera footballers and netballers can be fastidious in their routines and rituals, to make sure they are at their best.

It can range from the mundane, such as putting on socks in a particular order, or eating spaghetti bolognese on Friday night; to something far more old school, such as a cigarette in the shower block at half-time.

A number of Swifts footballers have a very specific pre-game routine.

Nick Pickering runs out of the clubrooms the same way each week, jumping three times on his right foot, three times on his left foot, and then once on each foot again before he can feel comfortable.

Zach Salmi does something similar, with three high-knee jumps every time before gracing the field.

Pre-game, midfielder Ryan Folkes has some quirky rituals.

"I make sure I eat a ham and salad roll before each game and have a Powerade," he said. "From half-time of the reserves, I listen to music and when I'm in getting changed, it's both headphones in, and I turn it right up."

Swifts' ruckman Matt Healy has two specific meals in mind, making sure he has enough energy to fuel his big frame.

"I have a weekly ritual of eating ravioli for dinner on Friday night, then bacon and eggs on Saturday mornings," he said.

Minyip-Murtoa netballer Alex Lang also always tries to eat pasta on Friday night, before tucking into a Kit-Kat half-an-hour before every game.

"I know they'll always have them at Murtoa, but for an away game I'll always stop and pick one up," she said. "I think it started when I was a kid at Edenhope, and it was one of the only options they had.

"I don't think I'd ever eat one outside of netball now; it's just a Saturday thing."

Former Horsham Demon Garrett Liston also had a peculiar eating ritual - this one in the middle of the game.

"I didn't think it was that quirky at the time," Liston said. "I used to have a cup of coffee, a cake and a sandwich with the trainers, before the game and at half-time."

Liston also held a superstition about maintaining the momentum from the previous season, when Horsham was winning premierships galore in the mid-2000s.

"I always wore the same set of boots from the last season until we won a game, just to keep the luck moving from one season to another," Liston said. "It's funny the things you did back when you were younger."

Great Western's football operations manager Matt Delzotto said there were a few rituals he had noticed among his charges.

"A few of the boys have a nervous toilet stop or eat 10 minutes before the game," he said.

"Nigel Sibson puts on his left sock first, then right boot first every game.

"BJ Birch-Burton wears three pairs of socks to play in, and coach Will Bell can't go without his lucky red jocks."

Taylors Lake coach Brandon Weatherson always pulls his left sock on before his right. But such a routine seems fairly mundane compared to one young Laker, Reuben Macchia, and his very specific preparations.

Macchia starts the day with Weetbix honey bites, and won't eat again until after the match.

"It's just fluids from there," Macchia said. "I have four different drinks - a caffeinated tea, a Powerade mix, a protein drink and a bottle of water before the game."

Macchia will drink half of each before the warm-up, a quarter more before the first bounce and the rest at half-time.

"My whole life I've just been quite a routine specific person, so it just comes natural," Macchia said.

"I'm a bit superstitious, so if I do it once and it works, I won't change it.

"I also get tape around my right arm, and I put notes on it of things I want to focus on during the game."

At the Stawell Warriors, head coach Damian Joiner said he packs his football bag in a specific order, before re-doing it once again on Saturday morning in the same order.

"It's all about routines for a lot of our blokes ... just keeping it the same," Joiner said. "Some guys wet their hair with a water bottle before they run out."

For some Wimmera veterans, as the seasons roll by and off-field commitments become greater, spare time becomes a luxury.

"I'm pretty boring now," Harrow-Balmoral coach Nick Pekin said.

"I used to wear the same pair of jocks, but I don't even do that anymore. Now I've got a family, there's no time for any of that stuff."

Stawell Warriors netballer Jemma Clarkson's superstitions also fell by the wayside.

"When I was younger, I always wore the same undies, socks and hair tie," she said. "Now, I need to get three kids ready before I get out of the house - so I generally wear the first hair tie I can find."

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