THE three Ms - Mitiamo, Maiden Gully YCW and Marong - will head into this year's LVFNL netball final series on highs following wins in Saturday's final home and away round.
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Mitiamo warmed up for its premiership tilt with a convincing 27-goal win over fellow contenders Bridgewater, while Maiden Gully YCW and Marong posted comfortable wins over Inglewood and Newbridge respectively.
A 79-52 victory at Bridgewater ensured the Superoos a week-off in the first week of finals.
Maiden Gully YCW, which clinched second spot on the ladder with its win over the Blues, will now meet Calivil United in next weekend's qualifying final, while Bridgewater and Marong will clash in the elimination final.
The Panthers will be breaking a long finals drought.
In such an interrupted season due to COVID-19, Superoos coach Glenda Thomas is wavering in her thoughts on whether another week off would benefit or disadvantage her team.
"I don't think it's great - we've just got going and we're going to stop again," she said.
"If we had a normal season it wouldn't worry me, but that's the way it is I suppose."
Thomas said a recent practice match against HDFNL team Huntly had helped offset to a degree the Superoos' lack of recent match play.
Notably, both teams enjoyed wins on Saturday, with the Hawks putting themselves in the box seat to secure fifth spot with a spirited win over North Bendigo.
"It was good just to blow the cobwebs out a bit, as we have been a bit rusty at times," Thomas said.
"We played Pyramid Hill before the break and we always find them tough. That was a good match to make us work hard.
"But the match against Huntly was a good one to get under the belt."
The Superoos got big games from the experienced quartet of Amelia Ludeman, Laura Hicks, Gabe Marlow and Lucy Morcom, who will be important players in their bid to go back-to-back.
After wrapping up the minor premiership, Thomas felt the Superoos had every right to be feeling confident heading into a tough finals series.
"I think that's the best we have played, we seemed to put it a bit more together," she said.
"The last quarter I made some changes and it wasn't our best, but it was a good win and a big win.
"Today was promising. We're still working on a few things and it's paying off at the moment.
"As long as we don't have too many more interruptions, things are looking good.
"We had a bit of lull, but are getting back into the nitty-gritty now."
Despite not having played since July 10 when it defeated Pyramid Hill to virtually clinch a finals berth, Marong can head to the finals with some confidence.
The Panthers' 45-18 win over Newbridge was their fourth in their last five matches, albeit spread over a two-month period.
Maiden Gully YCW is riding a five-game winning streak, with the Eagles' last and only loss coming against Mitiamo back on May 15.
The Eagles defeated Inglewood 83-27.
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