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LVFNL GRAND FINALIST: BRIDGEWATER
MITIAMO has done it once before, and has the chance to do so again on Saturday – stop an opponent winning seven Loddon Valley Football-Netball League premierships in a row.
The Superoos will take on Bridgewater in Saturday’s decider at Pyramid Hill, where the Mean Machine is gunning for a record seventh flag in a row.
Calivil United had also been striving for a seventh flag on the trot when the Demons lost to Mitiamo by 58 points in the 2009 grand final in what was the year before Bridgewater started its reign of dominance.
The Superoos are in their second grand final in a row, having been defeated by Bridgewater by 56 points last year in a game where poor conversion in the first half was costly.
Mitiamo goes into the grand final with a 15-4 record, with three of the Superoos’ losses having been to the Mean Machine by 59, 63 and 23 points.
In the past two of those defeats to Bridgewater the Superoos had been within 14 points at half-time, but weren’t able to sustain their effort after the break and were blown away.
And that has been the story of the Superoos’ season. While they finished second on the ladder, they have struggled to put together a consistent four quarters, which isn’t going to cut it on Saturday against the might of the Mean Machine.
Key to the Superoos’ solid season has been the performance of coach Justin Maddern, who has booted 104 goals – more than double anyone else in the competition.
Maddern looms as an obvious X-factor in Saturday’s clash, while the Superoos will also need standout games from their prime movers in Harding Medal runner-up Doug Thomas and fellow smooth-mover Tyson Sidebottom.
Co-captains Dylan Clohesy and Luke Lougoon, plus James Drake, have been a constant source of back-half drive, while Mitchell Sidebottom and Michael I’Anson have given the side a one-two punch in the ruck.