CDHBU won’t lack any motivation when it clashes with perennial powerhouse Osborne in the elimination final at Walbundrie on Sunday.
Not only will it be the Power’s first finals appearance in the Hume league but it also coincides with favourite son Doug Lavis’ 300th match.
Lavis, 33, is set to become the first player to achieve the milestone since Coreen Daysdale United merged with Hopefield Buraja in 2006.
The burly spearhead is set to join Dominic Carroll (Coreen) and Trevor Kuschert (Hopefield Buraja) who racked-up 300 games before the merger.
Lavis thought he may have been left stranded on 299 matches.
“Shane Norman (club statistician) told me early in the season I needed to play every game to reach 300 this year,” Lavis said.
“But I missed our round 7 clash against Howlong with a 40th birthday in Port Douglas.
“When that happened I had to rely on making the finals to get there.
“Luckily the boys got the job done against Howlong last week and it is going to be a big occasion for the club playing our first final.
“I’m fairly proud because not many people reach the milestone these days.
“There is a fair bit of hype and buzz around the club at the minute and I’m just happy to still be a part of it.”
Lavis made his debut as a 15- year-old with Hopefield Buraja in 1995 and played in back-to-back flags under Bulldogs coach Ron Hughes.
It was a dream start for one of the district’s most prolific goalkickers.
He went on to play 154 games for Hopefield-Buraja and won the best and fairest in 2001 before the club folded in 2004.
Lavis played in back-to-back flags with CDHBU in 2006-07 and thrived on the big stage to kick eight goals in each of the deciders.
He has also won multiple league and club goalkicking titles.
The strong marking forward kicked 146 goals in 2005 and also cracked the ton again the following year with 117.
His biggest haul has been 15 goals, against Jerilderie.
Lavis said he was keen to prolong his decorated career.
“I’m still enjoying it and still bob up with a kick every now and then,” he said.
“I’ll definitely go around next year.”
Lavis warned the Power were not content with just making finals and were more than capable of springing an upset against their more highly fancied opponent.
“We’re there and anything can happen in finals,” he said.
“We only played them once this year and were competitive for three quarters.
“We had our opportunities but just didn’t take them. Hopefully we learnt from our mistakes.”
Last Modified on 29/08/2013 14:19