Warrnambool Standard sports journalists Meg Saultry and Justine McCullagh-Beasy preview the 2023 Hampden league senior football and netball grand finals.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to Hampden League Grand Final week. It's been sunny most of the week
00:04 and we're looking forward to a cracking day on Saturday up at the Rodeoval. We've got
00:08 two really interesting contests in the senior footy with South Warrnambool going up against
00:14 North Warrnambool and over at the netball courts we will have South Warrnambool trying
00:18 to defend its title when it goes up against Cobden. Yeah, Meg, what are you looking forward
00:23 to?
00:24 I'm just looking forward to the whole day. I think it's going to be great contests on
00:27 both the football and netball fronts. Hopefully a bit better weather than last year. It was
00:33 a bit more wet and rainy so hopefully it's a good show for everyone to come out to and
00:40 see some premierships won.
00:41 Yeah, it should be a cracking day in the senior footy. Obviously we have North Warrnambool
00:46 in their fourth grand final in the past six completed seasons. Obviously we lost two campaigns
00:51 to COVID-19 but they're yet to win that elusive flag. I mean they've been in the competition
00:56 since 1997, endured a pretty rough trot to start with and then probably for the last
01:00 decade have been quite a strong team but just haven't been able to get over the line. And
01:05 then on the flip side you have South Warrnambool last won a flag in 2011, sort of been probably
01:11 the dominant side all year in what has been a pretty even competition. So yeah, I'm looking
01:17 forward to seeing what transpires. Probably South has a slight edge but I would not discount
01:23 North. I mean they've been hurt three times before so that would be a driving factor I
01:28 think.
01:29 I think as well, they're one and one in the home and away season while South got the job
01:35 done in the second semi-final a couple of weeks ago. In terms of the two teams going
01:39 head to head, what do you feel like? I guess their strengths are going to be or how they
01:43 can each get the job done?
01:45 Well obviously South Warrnambool has been known for its method. It's not so much about
01:50 personnel with Matt Battistello as coach, it's about how they play, one soldier in,
01:56 one soldier out, that sort of thing. So there are times throughout this year where they
01:59 were missing a fair few of their top line players and still managed to get the wins
02:02 just because of how they set up their play. They obviously have really good top liners
02:07 as well. I mean you've got Archie Stephens who's a VFL player running through the midfield,
02:13 Josh Shaunders, equal runner up in the Maskell Medal who has played AFL, up forward Shannon
02:20 Becks is always a presence. So you know they've got top players across the ground and it's
02:24 hard to shut them all down. North Warrnambool, pretty experienced team. Obviously they've
02:30 got some veterans in there, Ben Muggin, Tom Bouton, Matthew Wines, Adam Wines, all been
02:36 there before and will be really keen to go that next step. They also have some really
02:41 exciting young players, I guess led by Jet Birmingham in the middle and Jackson Grundy
02:46 and Bailey Jenkinson.
02:47 I think as well like the Eagles this year, they've done a really good job in terms of
02:53 kind of resetting after some kind of key departures and have played around a little bit with their
02:57 line-up in terms of where guys are lining up and how I guess they're requiring on the
03:03 football field. We've just seen from what Dow is done in his final season and potentially
03:08 going for one more premiership.
03:10 Yeah obviously the master coach and you know he's flicking the Magrits around and they've
03:15 paid off, paid dividends. J.R. Lewis moving from the forward line into a back line role,
03:20 had a career best season, finished second in the Mascall Medal. Tom Bouton has played
03:27 a lot of back line this play, he's moved forward again. So they're not afraid to move people
03:31 where they need to. I mean Adam Wines can just plug holes wherever they want. So yeah
03:36 that adaptability and thinking on your feet on match day could really hold them in good
03:40 stead. Adam Dow, he can never be underestimated, he's won six premierships in the Hampton League,
03:46 hasn't won one at this club and I think it would be a lovely way for him to wrap up if
03:51 he could taste that success on Saturday. And then the Netball 2 Meg, obviously it's going
03:56 to be a cracker as well. Sad news for Cobden though with Sophie Hinckley pinging her calf
04:01 in the preliminary final.
04:03 Yeah that was devastating for her, for her team and also even to supporters. I think
04:08 watching on were like, did not want to see that kind of happen, particularly in the game.
04:12 She's a big out, she's been awesome for them this season coming back, didn't play last
04:17 year and is just such a dynamic kind of player through the midcourt but can also go into
04:22 goals and Cobden has that depth to make a lot of rotations each quarter and she plays
04:32 through a multitude of positions in that. So a big loss but they're going to back their
04:40 depth to cover her. They've got also the Div 1 team in the grand final so that's 18 players
04:47 in their top two grades to go for two premierships. I think Cobden, they've been a really good
04:57 team all season, along with South. They've been the best two teams all season, probably
05:06 head and shoulders above most. So I think it is fitting that they're both there. South,
05:14 they got the job done last year, I think about five goals in the end. I think what's been
05:20 great about South is that they've got even better since what they were doing last year,
05:26 just building on what Will's put in place as coach there and keeping the players they
05:32 had last year. Then you add in Natalie O'Connor, who's a standout for the competition as well,
05:38 won her second Jenkins medal on the weekend. So what she does through the midcourt is really
05:44 special as well.
05:45 We're looking forward to two really great contests, obviously we've got the juniors
05:50 and starting I think 9am is the first game in the netball, first three games from 10.
05:54 It's going to be a jam-packed day and we're expecting a huge crowd down at Read Oval.
05:58 So make sure you follow standard.net.au across Saturday and Sunday for all your coverage
06:02 from the Hampton League Grand Finals.
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