NO BLUES THIS TIME

We’ve learnt our lesson, says Lauderdale boss

IT won’t be a case of history repeating for Lauderdale after the Bombers’ illdisciplined display in their grand final debut last year.

Lauderdale president Julie Kay believes the mistakes of last year’s grand final will not be repeated when her side takes the field on Saturday for this year’s decider.

The Bombers have made back-toback grand finals after finishing the season in fifth position and despite several players and coach Darren Winter being handed suspensions after last year’s 87-point loss to the same side they will face on Saturday — North Launceston — Kay says a lot has changed over the past year.

“I am fairly certain [it won’t happen again],” Kay said.

“We did a review at the end of the year and we’ve been working really hard to make things positive around the club,” Kay said.

“We are not really thinking about last year because we know as a football club how much we have matured as a group.”

Kay said making their second grand final in as many years is a huge boost for the club and the community and that excitement is already building in the Eastern Shore town.

“You can say we are a small club in terms of facilities and financial turnover, but in terms of support, I’d argue that, on any given day, we would have the biggest number of supporters,” Kay said.

“We have a supporters’ bus going up on Saturday and every second person I speak to in Lauderdale is going up so it’s fantastic.”

While much has been made of the new additions to the side this year, Kay believes the strength of her club really comes from building from within.

“The fact that they’ve gone from fifth position to a grand final is fantastic and credit to our coaching staff but also to the players,” Kay said. “A lot of our players have been with us since Auskick so they are a pretty tight group of guys.”

Saturday’s decider kicks off at 3pm after the TSLW and Mercury Cup finals.

While her North Launceston counterpart in Thane Brady wasn’t pleased with AFL Tasmania’s decision to schedule the women’s game after the Mercury Cup clash, Kay has a different opinion.

“I’m quite happy for the women to be playing. They deserve that spot,” she said. “I don’t see that stuff needing to be aired on social media or the media in that way, but Thane is quite entitled to his opinion. But I don’t believe, after looking at everything, that his stance was supported by the wider football public.”