Rupertswood will get another shot at Macedon in the Riddell District Football League, and this time a premiership is on the line.
The Sharks, who lost to the Cats in the opening round of the finals, have since defeated Riddell and Diggers Rest to win through to their first senior RDFL grand final.
On Saturday, the Sharks had their best four-quarter performance of the finals against Diggers Rest, which was hoping to keep its dreams of back-to-back premierships alive.
The Sharks took the game in the second half, kicking six goals to win 10.7 (67)-5.12 (42).
Sharks coach Kevin Fitzgerald said his side deserved to be through to a grand final.
“It’s reward for effort,” he said.
“We’ve played pretty good football for the last couple of weeks. It turns out the best two sides of the regular season are through to the grand final.”
The Sharks got their wish of a dry day, which suited their game plan more on the big ground.
Fitzgerald thought that they could run over the top of the Burras and he was correct.
“The conditions were perfect for footy,” he said.
“We spoke about keeping pressure on them for long enough … we were able to get them and it was a really good job. I was really happy with our work rate.”
The game was still on the line at three-quarter time, before the Sharks kicked the first four goals of the last quarter to put the game out of reach.
Two of those goals came from Brett Chambers who was moved forward. Fitzgerald said they felt they had to find another avenue to goal.
“I thought we controlled the contest and didn’t get reward for it. We had a lot of the ball but weren’t able to convert.
“We moved Brett forward and he was able to do what we needed … he’s a quality player.”
Fitzgerald said Brent Swallow, Lachlan Muir, Nash Egan, Sean Hetherington and Damon Cerini were the side’s best.
He also made mention of Aden Muir, who has stood strong in the ruck the last two weeks in the absence of Dean Putt, and Dylan Podolczak.
Fitzgerald thought Podolczak’s season was over after breaking his hand last week.
“He had an operation on Wednesday and had a plate put on the bone,” he said.
“He was told if he could stand the pain he could play. He’s mentally tough … You can’t measure the intangibles like that.”
Fitzgerald said besides some sore bodies, they had avoided any new injuries. He said Dean Putt would face a test this week as he looks to return from a hamstring injury.
The senior team is one of five Sharks teams going for premiership glory on Sunday.
The under-18.5 footballers, under 19 and B-grade netballers are all going for their fourth straight premierships.
The C-grade netballers are looking for their second straight flag.
