BDCA: Roos, undefeated Dragons primed for women's grand final tussle

It's the second year in a row the Dragons and Roos have faced off in the grand final, only this time the roles are reversed.

Last season the Roos had gone into the premiership decider as the unbeaten flag favourites and duly delivered, winning the grand final by 28 runs.

This time though the Roos are the underdogs as they continue their record of having played in the grand final in each year since the BDCA introduced a senior women's competition.

READ MORE: Power clubs clash in EVCA semi-finals

Kangaroo Flat has won two of the competition's three previous grand finals and foundation player Rindy Sawyer knows the Roos will have to be at their absolute best to be a chance of upstaging the red-hot Sandhurst side.

"Sandhurst is a fantastic team that has so much talent across the board," Sawyer said on Friday.

"We know it's going to be a tough ask, but we think we've got the ability to take it up to them.

"Over the past few weeks we've shown that, especially with the way we've been bowling, while our batting led by Sarah Perry and Chelsea Wearne has really cemented as well.

"It's a really exciting opportunity on Sunday that we're all looking forward to."

The Roos have won their past four games, including a comprehensive eight-wicket win over the Bendigo Goers in their semi-final last week headlined by an unbeaten 61 from captain Sarah Perry, who has cracked four half-centuries this season.

Overall, the Roos have an 8-4-1 record for the season, with two of their four defeats having come against Sandhurst when they lost by eight wickets in round two and nine wickets in round seven.

READ MORE: BDCA: Grand final berth on offer for Suns, Jets, Redbacks and Hawks

The rampaging Sandhurst has been particularly potent with the bat throughout the season, averaging 48.8 runs per wicket lost.

The Dragons - co-captained by Kate Shallard and Maree Pearce - won their way into the grand final with an eight-wicket semi-final victory over Bendigo last week.

"All the work we've put in over the year has got us in this position of being able to play in the grand final, which is exciting," Shallard said.

"We know Kangaroo Flat is a quality team that is experienced and has performed well over a number of years and that we'll have to play our best game of the year to be a chance on Sunday.

"We'll be doing everything we can to put in a good performance on Sunday."

Since joining the women's competition last season the Dragons overall have a 20-2-1 record from 23 games.

"Being the second year in the competition, we've been able to keep a reasonably structured squad, so the development of the girls from last year to this year has been really impressive," said Shallard, who is the Dragons' leading run-scorer with 395 at an average of 98.7.

"The depth of our side has definitely been our strength and, hopefully, that comes through for us on Sunday."

READ MORE: ULCA: Arnold and Boort-Yando set for grand final showdown

Co-captain Pearce has also been outstanding with the bat for the Dragons with 321 runs at an average of 107.0.

Unfortunately for the Dragons Emily Lenaghan is unavailable to play due to health and safety protocols, with Sandhurst to take in an unchanged side from the winning semi-final team.

The Dragons and Roos will clash at Ewing Park from 10am Sunday.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: