Sport
Shepparton United reserves banking on old heads and new to cause grand final upset against Seymour
Wise minds will hope to guide Shepparton United’s reserves to its first premiership in a decade this weekend.
The Demons take on Seymour in a home grand final on Sunday and have the expertise of senior coach Duane Hueston, thirds coach Ramadan Yze, senior figure Jamie Atkinson and veteran Stephen Scott to call on to dump an upset on the favoured Lions.
Funnily enough, Scott was present when United’s reserves last took home a premiership.
The 350-gamer featured in a three-goal win over Rochester back in the 2013 decider, and it’s that kind of experience — paired with youth — which coach Jason Ritchie believes may be enough to climb the mountain.
“To be here now, we played the best we can at times,” he said.
“We’ve relied on our thirds a lot, with 13 or 14 of them playing probably over 100 games, they’ve been a big part of the club.
“Then having our older players, having a senior coach play in ‘Huey’, Rum Yze and Stephen Scott and having Jamie Atkinson involved.
“That experience has been great for all players with their development on the ground and them really just gelling together has been good.”
Make no mistake, Seymour is the ultimate test.
A flawless 18-0 season from the Lions makes them almost indestructible on paper, so the Demons are bracing for an almighty barrage off the bat.
“Their strength is right across the ground and they’ve set the bar high for the whole year,” Ritchie said.
“They’ve been the yardstick for everyone to measure themselves by and we expect nothing less for them to come out with all guns blazing.”
Seymour has the big guns, but United has the unquantifiable element of heart.
And lots of it, considering the year the Dees have had.
The club has been cruelled by personal tragedy throughout 2023, and Ritchie hopes it has only tightened the emotional twine binding the playing group together.
“It’s really huge for the club with the amount of injuries we’ve had this year and with the amount of sadness we’ve had off the ground,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of sad things occur to some of our players and family members off the ground.
“It’s been a pretty hard year, and coming out of COVID last year, like most clubs (we) struggled for numbers.
“The support has been there all year with all the coaching staff I have and with the football department’s support, the club committee’s support and the trainers — that hasn’t really changed.
“It’s probably from the spectators and the teams that haven’t made finals at our club are showing up and showing real support behind the scenes.”