AFTER an undefeated home and away season the Bendigo Thunder are wiping the slate clean ahead of the start of their VWFL premier division finals campaign on Sunday.
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The Thunder will take on Melbourne Uni at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in the second semi-final, with the winner to progress straight through to the grand final at Coburg in a fortnight.
Coach Cherie O’Neill says while the Thunder is proud of going through the home and away season unbeaten, that counts for little in the finals – other than their structures have clearly held up.
“It’s very exciting for the girls to be playing again on the QEO, but the most important thing is we all stay focused and continue to just have that one week at a time attitude,” O’Neill said on Friday.
“The finals series is a whole new ball game, so it’s important we wipe the slate clean, expect the unexpected and go hard right from the start.”
While it could be easy for a side that has stormed through the home and away season unbeaten with an average winning margin of 40 points to get ahead of itself, the Thunder only have to look back to their last game against Melbourne Uni to know they have a fight on their hands on Sunday.
When they met a fortnight ago the Thunder escaped with a three-point win in a low-scoring contest against the fast-finishing Melbourne Uni.
“Three points is nothing in a game of football and it could have gone either way that day, so it’s important we come out from the start on Sunday switched on,” O’Neill said.
“We’ll have a full team available to pick from, which we haven’t had for a few weeks.”
Sunday’s clash between the Thunder and Melbourne Uni starts at 2pm.
Sunday’s action at the QEO will also feature a youth girls elimination final curtain raiser between Strathfieldsaye and Kyneton from 12.15pm, as well as two exhibition games.
Entry is by gold coin donation.
Thunder team:
B: S. Baldwin, J. Louttit, H. Perry
Hb: R. Hicks, S. Last, A. Long
C: A. Glanville, E. Grant, A. Hay
Hf: H. Trevean, I. Ayre, P. Condor
F: L. Flanagan, E. Ross, E. Strachan
Foll: C. Blakeway, J. Kennedy, L. French
Inter: E. Findlay, S. Moerke, K. McIntosh, S. Beavis, R. Daley, R. Pay, E. Doran
This season:
Rd 6 – Bendigo 15.8 (98) d Melbourne Uni 3.3 (21).
Rd 11 – Bendigo 7.6 (48) d Melbourne Uni 2.1 (13).
Rd 14 – Bendigo 4.5 (29) d Melbourne Uni 4.2 (26).
