Magpies, Hawks primed for final

With the ‘big dance’ in Mininera and District Football League finally here, Wickliffe-lake Bolac remains a clear favourite to win the 2018 premiership.

However, as we have said time and again, you just can’t count out Tatyoon when it comes to finals action.

Tatyoon has proven this again this year and will front up against the Magpies in the grand final at Ararat’s Alexandra Oval on Saturday.

The Hawks’ finals appearance almost didn’t happen considering their rough run home, when they lost three of their last four home-and-away games. But a final-round win allowed them to sneak into fifth spot.

Tatyoon has done it the hard way, needing to continually win without any rest to get to the season finale.

The Hawks’ successful navigation through a preliminary final last week, when they beat Penshurst by 41 points at Wil- laura, represented a penultimate barrier the side overcame to reach the big game.

Wickliffe-lake Bolac, on the other hand, has had a dream run, having to only play one final, against Penshurst, to secure its spot in the grand final.

While both teams will be confident in their capabilities and certainly deserve to be in the big game, there is suspicion both will have lingering thoughts in the backs of their minds.

For the Magpies, it might be thoughts of a 2016 grand final when Tatyoon simply dominated them right from the first bounce to walk away with a 121-point victory.

For the Hawks, thoughts of this year’s round-14 clash where Wickliffe-lake Bolac not only scored a 164-point win, but also kept Tatyoon goalless, would surely linger.

Both teams boast a huge amount of young talent, coupled with many experienced players.

Tatyoon players such as Sean and Tim Mcdougall, Jarrod Blandford, Jack Antonio, Trevor-john Wanganeen and Adrian Pilgrim will all play key roles in the game.

They will go head to head with key Magpies such as Bailey Veale, Brad Keilar, Chris Thornton, Thomas Gibson, Tas Clingan and Will Slattery.

The senior game is scheduled for 2.30pm.

In other games, SMW Rovers play Moyston-willaura in the reserves and an under-16.5 clash is between Moyston-willaura and Penshurst. Woorndoo-mortlake will meet Tatyoon in an A Grade netball grand final.

The grand-final action follows the league’s Lewis Medal best and fairest vote count, won by Lismore-derrinallum’s Michael Lockyer. He won the medal during a count on Monday night with 26 votes from Justin Eales, Penshurst, and Brad Keilar, Wickliffe-lake Bolac, both on 24.