A CHANCE to play Hay in next Saturday’s grand final awaits either Ultima or Wandella when the Bombers look to upset the Roos in this week’s preliminary final.
Wandella will need to be at their best if they want to do what only the Lions have done this year in defeating Ultima, but they bring strong belief.
The Bombers were ruthless in their semi-final victory over Macorna last week, booking their preliminary final spot with a dominant 99-point win.
Wandella’s attacking prowess was on full display in that performance, and Ultima will need to pay the Bombers’ forwards close attention.
Roos coach Kyle Symons said he knew his side’s upcoming opponents had dangerous players across their entire line-up.
“Wandella are a bit of a different side – they’re a team who spread their talent right across the ground,” Symons said.
“If they can get all the facets of their game going, they’re definitely hard to stop.
“I think we just have to work hard to keep the football out of their possession.
“When we don’t have the footy, we need to be right on them so we can try to turn it back over quickly.
“With guys like Justin Robinson and Logan Keighran, we need to be right on them and matching their run and stamina.”
Although they didn’t get the win over Hay, Symons said the Roos would take lessons from the disappointment of the 49-point loss.
“We had Hay on the back foot pretty early on but I feel like we were right in the contest for a lot of the game,” he said.
“Hay’s third quarter really broke the game open.
“It’s just a matter of us learning to play for every moment in a finals game.
“If you’re not at your best in the finals your opposition are going to look to punish you.
“Our boys are all raring to go.
“We were pretty disappointed last week but now we have the chance to get into a grand final.”
The finals experience of Ricky Wild and Lincoln Frost showed through last week and will have big impact once again against Wandella.
Ultima will have a nervous wait on whether ruckman Matt Taverna will run out on Sunday, the big man having picked up an ankle injury last week.
But the Roos’ job will be made somewhat easier as they play on their home track, Symons aware of the importance of the home support.
“We always love getting to run out at our home ground and our supporters are always right behind us,” he said.
“With a spot in the grand final on the line, I think it’ll be no different.
“Our reserves made it straight through so I’m sure they’ll be doing everything they can to help us into a grand final.”
Wandella’s vocal supporters are ready to cheer on their side this weekend as they look to will their team into their first grand final since 2017.
Bombers co-coach Justin Robinson said a grand final appearance would be huge for the club after they battled through a slow start to the season.
“Earlier this season it was a bit unbelievable to think we’d be contending in the finals,” he said.
“But here we are, and there’s a lot of confidence and excitement around, especially having hit our straps at this time of year.
“Our season started with some pretty heavy losses and a couple of narrow wins but our game style really came together when it mattered.
“By the end of the season we felt like we were the only side in the bottom four to actually challenge the top two sides.”
Young midfielder Nathan Boysen is slated to make his return to the side for the first time since round 13, injecting another hard-ball winner into the Bombers’ midfield.
While the inside battle will be key to which side will play in the big game, stifling scoring is where the Bombers will look to get on top.
Robinson said his side would need to adapt to any changes the versatile Ultima side would throw at them.
“They’ve got plenty of running midfielders who we’re going to try to match it with,” he said.
“But the key thing we need to do is stop their forwards like (Ryan) Devereux kicking goals, and with Kyle Symons back in he’s another we will look to stop.
“We’ll be trying to pile on the pressure and bring that same tackling intensity we had last week.
“We’re really excited to get out there for a preliminary final – it’s a position we think we are deserving to be in.”
