Grovedale and Geelong Amateur have met each other only twice this season.
Ammos won the round 7 encounter by 33 points, but Grovedale prevailed in the qualifying final by 19 points.
It’s all set up nicely for Sunday’s Epworth Division 1 grand final at Bisinella Oval, Lara.
The Tigers had the luxury of a week off while Ammos were impressive in a 41-point thumping of Thomson in the preliminary final.
Grovedale coach Paul Price said the week off came at a good time.
“It’s always nice to have the week off,” he said.
“It means you’ve gone in and you can manage your training loads and any sore bodies or anything that you have. It takes the risk of maybe not getting there also out of the way.”
“Both sides know how one another plays and it’s just a matter of who is able to execute the best.
“We do play two different styles of footy and that’s can we contain their outside run and their ball usage and then at the same time can they sort of break away from our side that puts some serious pressure on their ball carriers?”
Price said the large confines of Ocean Grove’s Ray Menzies Oval played a role in the qualifying final result.
“It was a very big ground and I think both sides were pretty spent by the end of it,” he said.
“It became really dour and physical. Both backlines were on top and it was played between the arcs a fair bit. It wasn’t a game where there were heavy stoppages or not great footy. The ball was pinging both ends, but both defences were on top and repelling scoring opportunities.”
Grovedale’s defence was superbly led by captain Emily Worpel, Lauren French and Madeleine Rentsch.
Prices said Worpel was “a natural competitor and leader”, while French had an “appetite for the contest and (was) a genuine footballer” and Rentsch “just hates to be beaten”.
Geelong Amateur coach Tash Irvine hinted that the qualifying final loss allowed her side to work on its attacking game.
Restricted to two goals in that game, Ammos were able to put seven on the board against Thomson in the prelim.
“There were a couple of things that we went to work on during the week that made us look at a few different things,” Irvine said.
“We have been such a high scoring team and we kind of went ‘why, why are we not?’. We started to look at those elements and make those adjustments so it was nice then to come out and actually respond the way that we did and have a big score at the end of the day as well.”
Irvine said her side learned a lot after the qualifying final loss.
“I think the second half was really pleasing for us – we were able to stem the bleeding a little bit, but also win the half,” she said.
“I think initially we were just overawed by their tenacity at the ball and they were really tough around the contest and we just didn’t respond the way that we would normally respond and went into our shells a little bit.
“So there’s a fair bit we did take away from that and I think we are better prepared. I guess it was nice to kind of go yep, okay, that’s what they’re bringing (and) that’s the level that we need to be at.”
Amateur has a host of star-studded former VFLW players and Irvine believes it’s her midfield that will give the club the best chance of success on Sunday.
“I do think the midfield is probably our barometer,” she said.
“If we’re on top in the midfield, then the forwards are getting plenty of the footy and the backs are having to do less work, which is great.”
GRAND FINALS
Sunday August 31
Bisinella Oval, Lara
Division 1: Grovedale vs Geelong Amateur, 12.15pm
Division 2: South Barwon vs Geelong West Giants, 2.30pm
Under 14 Division 1: Torquay vs St Mary’s, 10.30am
Lara Recreation Reserve No 3
Under 16 Division 1: Geelong Amateur vs Ocean Grove, 2pm
Under 16 Division 2: St Joseph’s vs South Barwon, noon
Under 14 Division 2: Ammos Joeys vs Bell Park, 10.15am
Friday August 29
Kardinia Park, Anthony Costa Oval, South Geelong
Under 18: St Joseph’s vs Torquay, 6.30pm
