READ MORE - Wakefield relishing another grand final in season No.57 with White Hills

BACK-to-back flags for South Bendigo or the end of a premiership drought for Kangaroo Flat?

They are the two scenarios heading into Sunday's Bendigo Bowls Division weekend pennant grand final between Kangaroo Flat and South Bendigo at Bendigo East.

South Bendigo last year broke a 25-year flag drought with its nine-shot grand final win over Bendigo East and now gets the chance to make it two in a row - a feat the club last achieved in 1987 and 1988.

The Diggers were slow out of the blocks earlier in the season, losing their first two games by a combined 38 shots to Kangaroo Flat and Castlemaine, but have built strongly as the season has gone on.

The only loss the Diggers have suffered since their 0-2 start was a 19-shot defeat to Kangaroo Flat in the qualifying final a fortnight ago.

However, they bounced back with a 17-shot preliminary final win over Eaglehawk last week to progress to what is their third grand final in the five years Brad Holland has been at the helm as coach.

The Diggers will go into Sunday's decider with eight players who were part of last year's flag triumph: Don Sherman Jnr, Holland, David White, Ben Gould, Wayne Marwood, Luke Hoskin, Trevor Zimmer and Dale Oddy.

"Any experience you get from playing in grand finals previously helps and this is something we've worked hard towards again," Holland said this week.

"We know Kangaroo Flat is a good side... they have proven that all season.

"There's a few things we've been working on and we've got to make sure we bring our A game."

Holland, the No.1 ranked skipper this season for South Bendigo, will be matched up against young Kangaroo Flat skipper Cameron Keenan.

The two rinks have already played once this season, with Keenan beating Holland 21-18 in round one.

Three of the rink match-ups have already played once this season.

The competition's No.1 rink of the home and away season, Kangaroo Flat's David Keenan, is drawn to play Luke Hoskin.

They also met in round one when Keenan won a tight battle 19-17.

And Kangaroo Flat's Barry Anset and South's Max Rowley will clash again in a re-match of their round eight tussle in which Anset was a resounding 29-14 victor.

The only first-time match-up for the season between rinks will be Kangaroo Flat's Cameron Wilson playing South's Ethan Higgins.

Kangaroo Flat - which spent 13 of the 14 rounds on top of the ladder - is gunning for its first flag since beating Eaglehawk in a two-shot thriller in 2004-05.

The Flat's only slip-up has been on the green where it will play on Sunday when it lost to Bendigo East by 20 shots in round 13.

The Flat's elevation back to premiership contention has been a steady build since claiming the wooden spoon in 2016-17, with the club already having tasted success this season, winning the division one midweek flag.

"We've been able to recruit well over the past few years, but haven't been able to get it done," Flat co-coach Cameron Wilson said.

"This year we've got the right mix and getting Crackers (David Keenan) on board last year has helped us get to the next level."

Sunday's division one grand final starts at 1pm.

Such has been their extended dominance, Sunday's grand final will be the first not to feature either Bendigo East or Eaglehawk since Castlemaine beat Kangaroo Flat in 1999.

CAMERON KEENAN

Points: 17 Shots: +11

Record: 8-6-1

Average for: 19.4

Average against: 18.6

Past 4: W11, W13, L8, L9

Grand final rank: 8th

The team - Lindsay Troy, Wayne Walsh, Geoff Boyd, Cameron Keenan (s).

.............................................

BRAD HOLLAND

Points: 20 Shots: +56

Record: 9-5-1-1

Average for: 21.6

Average against: 17.9

Past 4: W2, L8, L8, L2

Grand final rank: 3rd

The team - Don Sherman Jnr, Lachlan Darroch, Daryl Rowley, Brad Holland (s).

DAVID KEENAN

Points: 23 Shots: +122

Record: 11-3-1

Average for: 23.7

Average against: 15.0

Past 4: L2, W21, L7, W7

Grand final rank: 1st

The team - Mal Balnaves, Nick Davies, John Berry, David Keenan (s).

.............................................

LUKE HOSKIN

Points: 18 Shots: +39

Record: 8-6-1-1

Average for: 20.0

Average against: 17.4

Past 4: W5, L11, W5, L13

Grand final rank: 5th

The team - Wayne Marwood, Mal Darroch, Greg Sherman, Luke Hoskin (s).

CAMERON WILSON

Points: 18 Shots: +3

Record: 8-5-1-1

Average for: 18.9

Average against: 18.6

Past 4: W8, TIE, L11, W13

Grand final rank: 6th

The team - Daryl Howarth, Ross Trevethan, Richard Murray, Cameron Wilson (s).

.............................................

ETHAN HIGGINS

Points: 17 Shots: +25

Record: 8-7-1

Average for: 20.2

Average against: 18.5

Past 4: W9, L2, W10, L3

Grand final rank: 7th

The team - Justin Rorke, David White, Ben Gould, Ethan Higgins (s).

BARRY ANSET

Points: 22 Shots: +72

Record: 10-3-1-1

Average for: 21.3

Average against: 16.1

Past 4: W2, L2, W6, W9

Grand final rank: 2nd

The team - Dean Goodwin, Graeme Lowe, Paul Moller, Barry Anset (s).

.............................................

MAX ROWLEY

Points: 19 Shots: +49

Record: 9-6-1

Average for: 20.9

Average against: 17.7

Past 4: W1, W2, W22, W18

Grand final rank: 4th

The team - Gary Ryan, Trevor Zimmer, Dale Oddy, Max Rowley (s).

ROUND 1

Kangaroo Flat 92 def South Bendigo 64.

Cameron Keenan 21 def Brad Holland 18.

Cameron Wilson 25 def Gary Downie 14.

David Keenan 19 def Luke Hoskin 17.

Barry Anset 27 def Ethan Higgins 15.

.............................................

ROUND 8

Kangaroo Flat 76 tied South Bendigo 76.

Cameron Keenan 10 lt Luke Hoskin 31.

David Keenan 19 def Ethan Higgins 17.

Cameron Wilson 18 def Brad Holland 14.

Barry Anset 29 def Max Rowley 14.

.............................................

QUALIFYING FINAL

Kangaroo Flat 86 def South Bendigo 67.

Cameron Keenan 23 def Luke Hoskin 12.

Cameron Wilson 25 def Brad Holland 17.

David Keenan 18 lt Max Rowley 20.

Barry Anset 20 def Ethan Higgins 18.

1. David Keenan (KF)

2. Barry Anset (KF)

3. Brad Holland (SB)

4. Max Rowley (SB)

5. Luke Hoskin (SB)

6. Cameron Wilson (KF)

7. Ethan Higgins (SB)

8. Cameron Keenan (KF)

Brad Holland over Cameron Keenan by 5.

David Keenan over Luke Hoskin by 4.

Cameron Wilson over Ethan Higgins by 2.

Barry Anset over Max Rowley by 3.

Overall - Kangaroo Flat by 4.

MEANWHILE, Strathfieldsaye has the chance to earn promotion back to the top flight of BBD weekend pennant on Saturday.

The Kookas play Kangaroo Flat in the division two grand final with the added incentive of a chance at promotion back to division one for the first time since 2012-13.

SATURDAY'S PENNANT GRAND FINALS:

DIVISION 2 - Strathfieldsaye v Kangaroo Flat at Golden Square.

DIVISION 3 - Bendigo East v Marong at White Hills.

DIVISION 4 - North Bendigo v Kangaroo Flat at Golden Square.

DIVISION 5 - White Hills v Calivil at South Bendigo.

DIVISION 6 - Marong v Bendigo at White Hills.

DIVISION 7 - Strathfieldsaye v Bendigo VRI at South Bendigo.

DIVISION 9 - Golden Square v North Bendigo at South Bendigo.

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