In a season of upsets and constant ladder changes, it seems fitting that tomorrow’s Bellarine Football League grand final will feature a tried and tested finals warrior and a new kid on the block.
Torquay has played in the past three grand finals while Anglesea’s last appearance was back in 1999 when it defeated Ocean Grove by 10 points.
The Tigers have only been beaten twice this season, but one of those was in the second semi-final against their grand final opponents.
Coach Dom Gleeson said his side wasn’t at its best a fortnight ago, but also paid credit to the Roos.
“I think we learned a lot about ourselves,” he said.
“I think the first question that people ask all the time is ‘what happened?’. The facts are we played a really good side in really good form and it only takes a couple of players to be down and then you lose a game and that’s what I love about our competition. Now, more than ever, it’s quite challenging from week to week.”
Torquay’s preliminary final win against Drysdale was built on the back of a blistering eight-goal second quarter, but also from a solid defensive effort in the third term.
“We trained for it,” Gleeson said.
“Trying to be able to defend, I thought the boys for the most part did that. Drysdale have always had the ability to score, you know they’re going to score at some stage in the game. Just how do you stop the momentum? And I thought the group did it really well on the weekend.”
One thing that could count in Torquay’s favour tomorrow is grand final experience.
“I’d like to think so,” Gleeson said.
“Contrary to what people might think, we’re still a young group. These 22- (and) 23-year-olds that have been around the club for a long time. We’ve played them since they were kids and now they’re becoming leaders within themselves.
“It’s a big day for a young group. It’s a big day for a group that committed to each other over two years ago that they were going to stay with each other and try and create something special and I think they’ve done that. I think the experience certainly helps.
Gleeson said both sides match up pretty evenly.
“I feel like we’re pretty equal, so it’s whoever can pull off their game plans best and bring their A game,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Anglesea, the club down the road that we have had some tussles with. It’s no surprise to me that Anglesea are in the grand final.”
While Anglesea might not be laden with grand final familiarity, the town has been buzzing for two weeks after earning a direct path into the decider.
Coach Jordan Keras said the week off was welcome.
“A few boys are ironing out some bruises and bumps and I think they’ll be much better off for the two big finals in a row,” he said.
“It’s hard to go four finals in a row, so (I was) happy to have one off. Some people don’t get an opportunity to play in a grand final in their career and we get an opportunity now and hopefully we can get one more (win) – the one that matters.”
Keras said, although pleasing, the second semi-final win was not perfect.
“Reviewing the game we actually thought we have a fair bit to improve on,” he said.
“We took away some of their strengths, but we definitely feel like we’ve got a bit to go. We could probably have two or three really experienced players come in, too.
“I don’t think there’s any one position that will win it. I think all phases of the game are going to be really important, our forwards, mids and our backs and how well we can all execute that role together and how well we can connect with each other. So the side that connects the best with each other through all phases of the game will win it. I think it’s going to be a pretty decent match.”
Anglesea will play Torquay at Leopold on Saturday September 7 starting at 2pm.
Torquay will play Geelong Amateur in the reserves grand final beginning at 11.30am and Grovedale takes on Lara in the Under 18 Division 2 decider at 9.15am.
