Grand final battle
THE Sands can cap off its meteoric rise through the district’s pennant ranks in Sunday’s Division 1 grand final against powerhouse Thirteenth Beach.
The Torquay club won back-to-back premierships, quickly moving from Division 3 into Division 1.
But its biggest test comes against Thirteenth Beach, a club that boasts unbelievable depth.
Sands captain Calem Hoffman says he is happy to take the underdog tag.
“They’ve been dominant in Division 1 in the past so it’s not going to be an easy grand final,” Hoffmann said.
“Their top four (is their strength), but this year I think that extends through the seven. They’ve picked up a couple of guys that weren’t there last year and another guy has really improved his game.
“So while we are normally wary of Stevie Symons and Troy Tainton, I think their five, six and seven are pretty strong as well.
“We’ve had this core group together since we won the Div 3 flag and we are hoping to make it three flags straight. We are confident we can give them a good game and come away with a win.”
The Sands accounted for a weakened Thirteenth Beach 5-2 in the final round of the pennant season, however Hoffmann isn’t getting carried away with the win.
“We know the team we beat isn’t going to be the one that fronts up for the final,” he said.
Thirteenth Beach captain Stewart Drayton said he was hopeful that his team could reverse the result this weekend.
“The last round was certainly not the result we were looking for,” Drayton said.
“I think our last loss was two years ago against East Geelong in the last round. Once again we had a couple of players out and that cost us top spot on the ladder. We were able to reverse the result in that final and fingers crossed we can do the same this year.”