INGLEWOOD will return to playing finals football for the first time in two decades.
The Blues finished the home-and-away rounds in fourth position after claiming a close win against Calivil United.
They next face Bridgewater in an elimination final at Newbridge this Sunday, something that seemed a long way off over the past few years.
Inglewood coach Darrell Billett said he was proud of seeing the club “come out the other side”.
“We were in a world of hurt a couple of years ago, as a lot of clubs were at that time,” he said.
“We had lost 52 players from our club between 2019 and the first game in 2021.
“When you think about it in that way, I think a lot of clubs would’ve just had enough and pulled the pin.
“We were on the end of some terrific floggings, but we were also just playing kids from under-18s who had never played a game of senior footy.”
Billett said some changes in recruitment had allowed the Blues to rebound quickly from their years of poor form.
“Last year we recruited reasonably well, we picked up some really handy types,” he said.
“We started alright, and then injuries took hold and we just didn’t have the depth to cover for them. It made it a long second half of the season.
“It was also a matter of player retention as well. We’ve been lucky that we’ve hardly had a bloke come in these past couple of years who has left us.
“But recruiting the guys that we were able to has really enabled us to turn this around a lot faster than we had expected.”
Billett said the township of Inglewood were returning to support the Blues.
“The local people are really excited about this, the crowds at the football this year for us are a lot better now than what they were two years ago,” he said.
“We played our last home game for the season last Saturday, and I honestly don’t think I’ve seen as many people at an Inglewood game for all the time I’ve been involved in the club.
“We’ve got some belief, we know that if we get passed Bridgewater next week then we just keep going.
“Who’s to say that we can’t go a little bit further? Obviously we’ll focus on next week first but we’re confident.”
At the weekend, the Blues got a tune-up for what’s to come against a desperate Calivil United, who were hoping to send off favourite son Henry Miller with a win.
The visitors prevailed by six points, 12.10 (82) to 10.16 (76).
Billett said his side had expected a tough contest.
“It was a real slog all game, whenever we play Calivil they seem to give us everything that they’ve got,” he said.
“We chipped away all game and clawed it back from being down by a goal at three quarter-time.
“We had to fight pretty hard for the win and it was really good that we did get that reward in the end.
“With our first final next week, it’s probably better for our side that we did have a really tough hit out, instead of a much easier game.”
In the round’s other games, league leaders Marong defeated Mitiamo by 95 points, off the back of six goals from Kain Robins.
Pyramid Hill also claimed a big win, defeating Newbridge by 133 points, with Zach Alford kicking six goals and Jack Woodward five.
There were no surprises in the final game, as Serpentine defeated Maiden Gully YCW by 51 points.
