SEA Lake Nandaly and Birchip-Watchem will meet in this weekend’s North Central Football League grand final after the Tigers recorded a commanding 32-point win over Wedderburn in Saturday’s preliminary final at Charlton.
The Redbacks were no match for the reigning premiers, who opened a 46-point lead at three-quarter-time, before Wedderburn added three last-quarter goals in the 11.6 (72) to 5.10 (40) result.
The win keeps Sea Lake Nandaly’s dream of back-to-back titles alive and sets up a rematch against the Bulls following their two-point thriller in last weekend’s second semi-final.
The Tigers had Wedderburn on the back from the opening minutes after kicking three unanswered goals in the opening quarter thanks to Thomas Cox (two goals) and Jackson McMahon (one goal).
Sea Lake Nandaly would eventually boot the first five majors of the game, with the Redbacks’ first six-pointer not coming until just before time-on in the second quarter thanks to Oscar Holt.
It was a proud moment for the club, according to Sea Lake Nandaly co-coach Bryce Delmenico, with the Tigers set to be represented in every football grand final this weekend, with their under-14s, under-17s and reserves all winning their way to final game of their seasons.
“Looking at it from a club perspective as a whole, it’s a massive achievement to get all four grades of footy playing this Saturday,” Delmenico said.
“It’s great for the future of our club, we’re one of the clubs with the fewest number of recruits in the competition, which is a bit of a reflection on how strong we are as a club.
“It’s not just about the senior group, but about the club as whole this weekend now.
“For us, there’s a fair bit of pressure taken off our shoulders now that’s for sure.
“It was a fantastic win and we played three-and-a-half quarters of good footy, but we just took our foot of the gas a little bit in the last 10 minutes, which was half-expected.
“We iced a couple of guys just to get them through unscathed really, but overall we’re pretty pleased with the result.”
After being outworked by Birchip-Watchem seven days earlier, Delmenico was happy to see his team return to the brand of football that saw them finish the season on top of the ladder, especially in the absence of key players Josh Jenkins and Trent Donnan.
“We went back to what we’re good at and that’s hunting in numbers, and we really hammered home the pressure,” Delmenico said.
“That’s what we’re good at, we hunted in numbers and got them to turn the footy over and then we attacked in waves from their turnovers.
“When you consider that we had a couple of key outs … it was pretty pleasing that we were still able to get the win.”
Jack Poulton and Tyson McKenzie were among the Tigers’ better players, according to their coach, with McKenzie racking up possessions at will on his way to booting two goals.
Jackson McMahon led the way up forward for Sea Lake Nandaly in the absence of Jenkins, kicking five goals and leading his team into their second straight grand final.
Also among the Tigers’ better players were Wade Donnan, Max Cahoon, Jai Wright and Cox, while the Redbacks were well served by Hamish Lockhart, Danny Benaim, Joe Lockhart, Jordan Hargreaves and Darcy Jackson.
Although the Redbacks’ dream first season under new coach Tom Metherell ends, they will still walk away having lost no admirers having gone from sixth to the preliminary final in 12 months.
For Delmenico and his Sea Lake Nandaly teammates, their attention has quickly turned to Saturday’s grand final, where an attacking contest between the league’s two best-performed teams is set to make for an entertaining climax to the season.
“We just have to play our way and make (Birchip-Watchem) defend us,” Delmenico said.
“We will go into the game with full respect and with the intention of defending them, but we’ll be trying to play our way and make them chase us at the same time.”
