For Echuca’s senior footballers, their Goulburn Valley League finals campaign got off to a great start with a comprehensive 69-point win over Mansfield last weekend.
The Murray Bombers dominated from the get-go, holding Mansfield scoreless in the first term and limiting the Eagles to just one goal and four behinds up to three-quarter time.
Angus Byrne booted six goals and Jack McHale led the way with 25 touches, as Echuca cruised to an emphatic victory.
It was a superb performance, one that is even more impressive considering it came against an Eagles side that finished second on the ladder.
The result is an ominous warning to the Murray Bombers’ finals rivals, while also highlighting something that has been true all season long — it is premiership or bust for Echuca this year.
The Green Bottles have been far and away the best team in the GVL this season, and in my opinion, anything less than a win on grand final day would be a major missed opportunity for Echuca.
More so, the season would have to be deemed a failure if it did not end with silverware in the hands of the Murray Bombers at Deakin Reserve in Shepparton.
The reason for that is simple — Echuca is simply too good a side to settle for anything less.
The Murray Bombers finished on top of the ladder once again this season, claiming their second minor premiership in a row.
The only blemishes on their record in 2022 were an overturned result against Rochester in round one, a side they comprehensively beat on the day, and a last-round loss to a Mooroopna team that had everything to play for while Echuca had already locked up top spot.
They boast a plethora of talented players on their team, including ex-AFL players Andrew Walker and Sam Reid, one of the best forwards in the league in Ruory Kirkby, and top-quality players in Kane Morris, Jack McHale, Riley Smith and Sam Willoughby, just to name a few.
After the disappointment of 2019’s grand final defeat at the hands of Kyabram and the frustration of a cancelled season last year when they again looked like one of the competition’s top sides, Echuca’s time to end its 20-year premiership is now.
The Murray Bombers have shown they are up for the challenge, but their biggest tests are still to come.
A semi-final encounter against Euroa awaits this weekend, to hopefully be followed by a grand final clash a fortnight later.
Premierships are hard to come by, but for an Echuca side this good, anything less this year would be a failure.