Goulburn Valley League’s two best 15-and-under netball sides will do battle on Sunday, with Shepparton Swans and Echuca facing off in the grand final.
Sitting in first and second on the ladder, the teams have been the benchmark all year and after playing out an extra-time thriller in the qualifying final, both are sure to head into the contest full of confidence.
“They’ve (the girls) done very well, they hadn’t lost a game all year,” Swans co-coach Sue Egan said.
“Then we lost the first qualifying final game because we were in Echuca against Echuca and that was tight."
Egan, who coaches alongside Amy Woodman, said because the side had gone through the home and away season undefeated it was positive in a way to fall to Echuca last time out.
“The past three weeks they’ve (the Swans) just really come out firing and they’ve really gelled as a group too,” she said.
“Their defensive play is probably their strength, they fight for the ball and don’t give up.
“I think they work really well as a team.”
Her first season coaching in the Goulburn Valley League, Woodman said she’d loved the experience so far.
"Especially with this group of girls as well,“ Woodman said.
“I think it’s also really promising to have the juniors being the ones making the finals and really knowing that we have that to build up into our senior program as well in the future, especially after the season they had last year where they probably could have won it in the end.“
The hard working Swans will need to be at their best to down Echuca on Sunday, with the Murray Bombers sure to come out hungry.
“They (Echuca) have very good defensive pressure, they use a lot of zones, so we have been working on that over the past few weeks of getting through that zone, not letting that pressure get to us,” Egan said.
“And when we get the ball to steady the play and make good decisions and control it to get down there, connect with the goalers and let them do their work."
15-and-under Grand Final
Shepparton Swans v Echuca (Sunday, 8.30am)