After 20 rounds and three weeks of finals we are down to Nagambie and Avenel to decide this year’s premier.
The Swans have had one of their best seasons in their proud history, winning 18 of a possible 20 games.
Take nothing away from Nagambie and it has enjoyed an equally stellar season, losing only twice to Avenel during the home and away competition.
Avenel last won a premiership in 1994 while Nagambie was successful only two seasons ago in 2014.
There will be no love lost between these teams and it will be very interesting to see what the Swans have learnt from two weeks ago when touched up by the Lakers at Mooroopna.
The Swans rebounded like a good side last weekend when it led from start to finish, ending Stanhope’s season.
The two meetings this year between the fierce rivals were both won by the Swans – the first meeting by five points and the second in round 20 by four goals.
But the Lakers won the meeting between the teams two weeks.
Swans coach, Donald Stirling will know his team could not possibly play two bad games in a row against Nagambie.
In a positive for the Swans, 2014 McNamara Medallist runner-up Michael Morgan, reigning best and fairest winner Kasey Duncan and Scott Tyers all got through unscathed last weekend.
Avenel will need to find a replacement for Ash Neville who hurt himself in the preliminary final win while Nagambie will need to make at least one change to the team that accounted for Avenel in the second half.
The Swans will need to restrict the influence of Harley Taylor Lloyd and Anthony Haysom. The pair tore the Swans’ defence apart while Jayden Gleeson, Daniel Haysom, 2014 medal winner Michael Shiels, Jackson Hutton and Bo Harrison were others to fire in the win a fortnight ago.
Scoreboard pressure will be decisive in this contest and the Swans will need to do better than it did a fortnight ago.
It must make every post a winner as the Lakers are one of the best teams in the competition when you don’t punish them.
Here’s hoping for a cracking game of football and good luck to both teams.
In the reserves, Tallygaroopna and Nagambie will go head to head while in the thirds the competition’s two best teams in Merrigum and Lancaster will face off for the premiership.
In closing, I would like to personally thank all the club representatives that availed themselves for the weekly radio show during the year and to the clubs that hosted broadcast games during 2016.
Enjoy your day, stay safe and it will be Nagambie celebrating around 5 pm.
Last Modified on 15/09/2016 15:53