Another ripper of a Northern Country Women’s League season has reached its conclusion, which means just one thing.
It’s finals time.
A handful of senior women’s and youth girls’ finals will take place at at Tatura Park this Sunday.
Reigning premier Nathalia will take on Benalla in senior action at Tatura Park, with Purples coach Simon Quarrell eager to get finals action under way.
Nathalia finished its season in second, having enjoyed another superb year, going down just twice to the high-flying Echuca.
Benalla faced the Purples just last Friday, Nathalia coming away with a 8.9 (57) to 1.6 (12) win.
“We’ve come up against Benalla a few times now — three times this year, they’re a very competitive team and they always put up a good challenge,” Quarrell said.
“It’s always quite a physical contest, we’ve been doing a bit of extra work in getting first to the footy and doing the basics right.”
After winning the flag in thrilling fashion last season, Quarrell said the club had been working at building on the foundations they had set in 2021.
“We’re trying to build some momentum and getting some balance coming into finals,” he said.
“We’ve only been in the competition for a fairly short time, we’ve got a bit of a different structure at Nathalia, being a smaller country town.
"We’re lucky enough to have a lot of support behind us from the community.”
The other senior match-up this Sunday sees table-topper Echuca take on Shepparton United straight after the Benalla and Nathalia fixture.
The Murray Bombers deservedly clinched the minor premiership after a superb unbeaten season.
Youth girls will do battle in the morning at Tatura, with Moama taking on Shepparton United at 10am, while Shepparton Swans and Echuca United will go head-to-head at 11.30am.
Shepparton Swans and Moama finished in first and second respectively, the two playing out a thriller a fortnight ago when the Swans pinched a nail-biting 6.11 (47) to 7.2 (44) win.