Tara Murray
Woodend-Hesket took lessons from earlier in the Riddell District Football League finals series to win through to its first grand final since 2007.
Facing Wallan for the second time in the finals in Saturday’s preliminary final, the Hawks were able to turn the table.
The Hawks led by 13 points at quarter time before trailing by four points at half time.
After half time the Hawks were able to step up and take control of the game.
They would be able to hold their composure in the final quarter to seal their spot in the final game of the season, 9.6 (60)-5.9 (39).
Hawks playing coach Josh Pound knows how special this is to the club and the supporters after a tough week.
Former junior player Harrison Duff, whose family is heavily involved in the club, died in an accident last weekend, while former player Garry Hewitt passed away during the week.
“It’s pretty special,” he said. “It’s hard to describe how I feel.
“We tried to play a good game to give the supporters and the Hewitt and Duff families a little bit of joy this weekend.
“To get the club into a grand final, we were able to do that.”
Pound said they made a real focus of starting well after a poor first half against the Magpies last time.
He said they didn’t want to leak easy goals and defend a lot better.
“That was a huge focus,” he said. “At half time and not being down by a decent margin was a good result.
“We were hoping we could run out the game like we had been.”
The Hawks kicked out to a 14 point lead at the final break. Pound said they probably should have been a couple of goals further ahead.
With the game in their control, the Hawks needed to hold their nerve in the final quarter.
Pound said having been overawed in the first final it was something that they had spent they had worked a lot on.
“The big focus since then was asking the guys to settle their nerves and stay calm in the big situations.
“They were able to do that.”
Jack Arceri kicked three goals for the Hawks, while Josh Pound and Alistair Rae kicked two goals each.
Pound said Rae, who moved from defence into the forward line, was strong for all four quarters.
“He took two really good connected marks in the forward 50 and finished his work,” he said. “You can see how much it means to him.”
The other player Pound highlighted was Tobi-Duff-Tytler who was able to equalise some contests late.
The Hawks reserves fell just short of a grand final, losing in extra time to Diggers Rest.
The club though has both their A-grade netball and senior football in the grand final in the same season for the first time.
Pound said it means a lot for the club.
The footy side will face Diggers Rest in the grand final, after having the week off.
The Burras are the only team the Hawks haven’t beaten this season.
“The job is not done, we’re not happy just making a grand final,” Pound said.
“We feel like we have a fair bit of momentum int he final series. We’ll throw everything at them.”
