Just one week after contesting a classic final round battle, North and West Gambier will face off in the same fixture at the same venue when the 2022 Bendigo Bank Western Border Football League finals series kicks off this Saturday.
They may be familiar foes, but it is guaranteed to be a thriller as the evenly matched teams fight to the death in the winner-takes-it-all game.
Last week the Tigers continued the trend of the visiting team winning the head-to-head battles this year by snatching an impressive two-point win orchestrated by the defensive efforts Brett Shepherdson and Ciaran Buckley.
Tigers’ coach Ben Hardy believes another nail-biter could be in store.
“I think us and West match up really well,” he said.
“West is a hard-working side with a lot of their goals made by grunt running from the back to the forward, while we are very meticulous, so they are two very different styles of play.
“We like playing West at Malseed Park because it suits our game plan, but they will have the home crowd on side, so it will be a great contest.”
Although Sam Stafford pulled up sore on the weekend, Hardy is confident his star forward will be back kicking goals in the sudden-death game with the “self-belief” burning strong within the team which has a history of rising during finals.
“Sam came to our recovery session on the Sunday after the game and was pretty upbeat,” he said.
“He could have probably played a bit longer but there is bigger fish to fry and he will be up for this Saturday which gives us a four-goal advantage.
“The thing with this group there is a lot of self-belief and experienced players who have played in a lot of big finals.
“The boys have stood up in the last few weeks and they are starting to understand the methods we are trying to do with our ball movement, so we are really excited.”
Despite the Roos also bounce into the finals with some momentum having sealed their finals fate before the Tigers.
It was a big achievement for West and coach Daron McElroy who only took on the position to lead the young side this year.
In addition to established stars like Lawry Bradley-Brown and Jordan Williams, youngsters such as Mitch Cornolo, Tre Davies and Tom Nieuwerkerk are performing.
McElroy said the finals berth is a great sign for the club moving forward after a topsy-turvy year which saw the new group win a tight scrap for survival with North and Casterton Sandford.
“We have just gradually built through the season,” he said.
“In the first four weeks the boys did not buy in, but since they have and even the culture of the club has progressed.
“We have decided the young ones are the future of our club and we are going to run with it and it has paid off.”
McElroy himself was restricted to moving the magnets from the sidelines last week and was non-committal if he will be at full fitness to unleash his game-changing best this weekend.
If he is able to play as the number-one ruck, it will give the Roos midfield a further boost after winning most of the clearances last week despite not being at full strength against the likes of Brett Kennedy and Nick McInerney.
Despite last week’s defeat to the Tigers, McElroy has already dismissed concerns from it and believes his men will be a new side with more on the line.
“We still have a few out which is not ideal, but we will put our best foot forward,” he said.
“We did not play our best footy last weekend but we are not fazed by that and are more worried about this weekend.
“There will be a different brand of footy from us.
“We will need to shut down their more experienced players but we love being the underdog.”
