ANOTHER chapter in the rivalry between Nyah District and Woorinen will be written this weekend, with the two clubs set to clash in this year’s Kookaburra Cup grand final.
The Demons enter Saturday’s decider looking for back-to-back Kookaburra Cup premierships, having defeated St Mary’s Tyntynder by seven wickets last year and with big game experience on their side, having played in four of the past six one-day grand finals.
The Tigers, on the other hand, will be out to break a 12-season drought in the SHDCA’s Kookaburra Cup competition, with their last 40-over victory coming all the way back in 2012-13.
Although experience may side with Nyah District, Woorinen’s youthful exuberance and attacking nature is sure to hold them in good stead, with Tigers captain Dean Morpeth at the very least hoping to use the grand final as a stepping stone for his young side.
“I think everyone still strives to win the red-ball premiership, but for me, it’s exciting that we’ll get the chance to play in a big game against the best team and challenge ourselves against them,” Morpeth told the Gannawarra Times this week.
“We’ve earned the right to play on Saturday and we now get the chance to expose ourselves to playing Nyah, and if we’re lucky enough to play well and win, then that’s a bonus and one that we’ll certainly celebrate.
“For us, we really want to win the grand final in March, but the Kookaburra Cup is a very good event for the association and we’ll definitely be going all out to win it.”
Only two players remain from Woorinen’s last Kookaburra Cup premiership, with last Saturday’s heroes Morpeth and Guri Singh the lone survivors from the Tigers’ eight-wicket win 12 years ago.
Both players will be key for the Tigers, with Morpeth having plundered an unbeaten 107 from just 60 deliveries against Ultima TUF last weekend, while Singh took an astonishing 9/14 from 10.3 overs in their team’s nine-wicket win.
While Woorinen possess several match-winners, including reigning SHDCA best and fairest Darren Rushton, it’s the Tiger veterans who will take much of the Demons’ pre-match focus.
“I’d be more than happy to see the back of Dean (Morpeth) pretty early, but any of their top five with the bat are all really dangerous,” Nyah District captain Ben Shadbolt said.
“Darren (Rushton) proved last year how talented he is with the bat and he proved that against us earlier in the year as well, but Guri (Singh) and Dean are coming off seriously good milestones last weekend and they’re the blokes we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
“Guri (Singh) is a wonderful cricketer and a wonderful bloke, he’ll have a smile on his face no matter the result, but he’s the one we really need to make sure we watch with the ball.
“They have a solid bowling line up, so we’ll have to try and score of Guri too if we are to get a good total, we can’t just go completely defensive and let him have it all on his own terms however.”
Nyah District have plenty of damaging players with both bat and ball as well, with Charlie Boulton (361 runs at 32.82), Mitchell Grinham (329 runs at 41.13) and Joel Walsh (324 runs at 40.50) the current leading run scorers for the association.
The one saving grace for the Tigers is that they won’t have to contend with Dean Harrop (253 runs at 31.63), who is unavailable, while Woorinen will also be below full strength with batsman Mitchell Uhlhorn out.
Morpeth was quick to acknowledge the threat Nyah District can still pose with both bat and ball.
“I don’t think you can nullify them in a 40-over game, they bat all the way down the order in my opinion,” Morpeth said.
“The hardest thing will be that usually in a one-dayer there is a bowler or two you can target in most opposition teams, but with (Nyah District) you can’t as they are all quality bowlers.
“That means we’ll have to take risks against good bowlers, and it will either work or it won’t.
“We’ll have to score over 200 to win with their bating line-up, they always score runs against us and I think our bowling depth and having five bowlers that can remain tight the whole time has been one of our challenges.”
It was a sentiment shared by Shadbolt, who after watching Woorinen chase down his team’s total of 207 back in round 4, knows just how important setting a big first innings total will be for both teams.
“I think 200 is probably par for both teams generally,” Shadbolt said.
“(Woorinen’s) top five is as good as anyone’s in the competition, with the likes of Dean (Morpeth), Darren (Rushton), Cooper (Fox), Guri (Singh) and Jase Mangiameli all very adept at scoring runs and scoring them at a good rate too.
“Two-hundred is a par score I reckon, as we saw the last time we scored 207 against them and they chased them with an over to go, so it will be a high-scoring affair.
“We bowled fairly ordinary that day and at Woorinen, you can’t afford to drop the ball short, much like (Swan Hill Recreation Reserve), you have bowl full because the boundaries are big straight and we just didn’t bowl full that day.
“We dropped a few catches as well and we need to rectify those mistakes.
“We know how to play in the big games, we’ve been there plenty of times before, we just have to stick to our game plan and hope it comes off.
“Whenever we play Woorinen, they are always highly competitive games, we have plenty of respect for Woorinen and the way they go about their cricket.
“Dean’s (Morpeth) is doing a great job with their boys and he’s getting the best out of them, and they will be a really tough to beat.”
Both the Demons and Tigers are no strangers to battling it out for silverware, with the two clubs having met in several grand finals in recent seasons, but Saturday will be the first time since 2019-20 they have met in a Kookaburra Cup decider.
With so much history between the clubs – and with another title on the line – another high-scoring and highly entertaining battle is almost guaranteed.
