Werribee Centrals have come from fourth spot on the ladder to earn the right to meet East Geelong in the Geelong District Netball League A Grade grand final.
The Centurions defeated Winchelsea 46 to 33 on Saturday to advance to the decider and both coaches are anticipating a close contest.
“Obviously they (East Geelong) sit top of the table for a reason,” Werribee Centrals coach Casey Price said.
“If my stats are correct then both them and us are one and two in terms of the least amount scored against so I think it’s going to be a really tight game.”
Eagles coach Justine Radford echoed her counterpart’s thoughts.
“We were fortunate to play them twice throughout the season so the first time they got over the top of us with a five-goal win and then we beat them by five goals later in the season so it’s going to be an even match up,” she said.
“We kept Winchelsea to 20 goals last week. Both ourselves and Werribee have been one and two in the defensive end so we’re quite confident with any combination that we put in there, but I also know that they’re quite confident.”
The Centurions have done it the hard way via the elimination final, but Price said her side is starting to gain form at the right end of the season.
“They are managing to string together four consistent quarters, which is really pleasing,” she said.
“In the attacking end it will come down to who settles first. I think both defensive sides will turn enough of the ball over and it will just be who is able to capitalise on that.
“It will be a cracker. It will be really close, I don’t think either team is going to manage to pull away. I think it will all come down to who holds their nerve.”
East Geelong’s preparation has been much different. By the time the grand final comes around, the Eagles will have played one game in four weeks.
“We’ve utilised the time to get some recovery in,” Radford said.
“We don’t have a very large squad, they did have quite a physical matchup last week against Winchelsea so it’s probably a good opportunity for them to rest and recover and come in nice and strong.”
The grand final is on Saturday September 10 at St Albans starting at 3.15pm.
