Romsey’s quest for back-to-back premierships has reached the grand final stage in the Riddell District Football League.
The Redbacks set up a decider rematch with Diggers Rest after knocking off Broadford in Saturday’s preliminary final at Lancefield.
After beating Rupertswood and Riddell in the first two weeks of the finals, the Kangaroos were confident of a third upset win.
Instead, they were no match for the reigning premier, which won 16.19 (115) – 7.14 (56).
Redbacks coach Dean Helmers said halfway through the season his players could make another grand final if they wanted it badly enough.
“We seem to have found our way into it,” Helmers told
Star Weekly.
“Everything is coming together off field. I always believed we had the list, but there were warning signs early on that we weren’t working hard enough.
“The boys have turned the corner; mid-season, too few were even turning up to training.”
On Saturday, the Redbacks looked in cruise control midway through the game, leading by 34 points at half-time.
“I felt we were in control for most of the day,” Helmers said. “Broadford got cracking in the third quarter. I think we had changed the side too much. We quickly changed things back and the game returned to being on our terms.
“We were confident and wanted to try a few different things ahead of the grand final.”
Walid Saad kicked three goals for the Redbacks, while Ben Way and Zak Saad managed two each.
Helmers said the side was coming together at the right time.
“It was a good performance against Broadford … it was more of a team effort,” he said. “The bigger grounds suit our fast guys who like to run. We’ve worked on a few things at training and improved [with] every game in the finals.”
Team selection for the Redbacks’ grand final side will be interesting, with several key players having missed the win over the Kangaroos.
“Ben Sullivan didn’t come up and Cam Wight was ruled out during the week,” Helmers said.
“Steve Burlak didn’t pass a fitness test, so there’s still three to four players who could come into the side.”
Diggers Rest awaits them in a rematch of last year’s grand final, won by the Redbacks by 18 points.
This year the two sides have split their matches, with the Burras winning the semi-final match two weeks ago.
“Diggers are a good side and have done a great job,” Helmers said.
“Shaun Sims is a good coach and they have a real even spread across the ground. We’ll try and get the game on our terms.”
Diggers Rest and the Sunbury Kangaroos will play off in the reserves, while Rupertswood and Woodend-Hesket match up in the under-18.5 grand final. All games will be at Romsey Park.
