HDFNL: Stunning turnaround as Saints now just one win away from flag

It has been a stunning turnaround for Heathcote over the past two years that on Saturday has the chance to culminate with a premiership.

The Saints, competing in what is their first HDFNL finals series for a decade, will take on Mount Pleasant in the grand final at Huntly.

Such has been the rise of the Saints, should they prevail on Saturday they will be the HDFNL's premiers just 34 games on from being held to a score of only 0.7 (7) in a 157-point loss to Lockington-Bamawm United in what was their final game of the COVID-shortened 2021 season.

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The Saints will be led into battle in the grand final by captain and classy half-back Codie Price, who joined Heathcote in 2019.

Heathcote was 1-15 in Price's inaugural season in 2019, there was no season in 2020 due to COVID, before the Saints finished 2-11 in the shortened 2021, with the last three of those 13 games a trio of triple-figure losses.

However, the arrival of new coach - and former Heathcote player - Andrew Saladino combined with a host of recruits saw the wheel start to turn in the right direction for Price and the Saints last year, with Heathcote improving significantly to win seven games and finish sixth.

Last year laid the foundation for what has been the genuine re-emergence of the Saints this season, with Heathcote finishing on top of the ladder for the first time since its last premiership year in 2010, beating White Hills in the second semi-final and now getting a shot at the premiership against the Blues.

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"The turnaround has happened quicker than a lot of people probably thought it would," Price said on Thursday.

"We've always had the goal of making finals and to be competitive in finals... to just miss out (on finals) last year and then finish on top this year is probably a bit quicker than expected, even though we were confident we were on the right track.

"When I first came across (from Sandhurst) we were young and playing a lot of Heathcote kids, but we've been able to bring in some more experienced bodies over the past couple of years that has really helped."

One of those experienced bodies who have joined the Saints over the past two years has been versatile big man Braden Padmore.

Capable of dominating games in the ruck or up forward, Padmore was joint runner-up in last year's Cheatley Medal and finished third this year to team-mate Liam Jacques, who returned to his home club Heathcote this year after stints away at the Northern Blues, Bridgewater and Golden Square and added some grunt to the midfield.

Corey Grindlay (67 goals) from Wallan has been one of the competition's most dynamic forward this year in his first season in the HDFNL, while defender Bill Direen - another Wallan recruit who joined the Saints last year - has been rarely beaten over the past two seasons.

The added experience the Saints have brought in under coach Saladino has been particularly prevalent this year.

It hasn't been uncommon this year for Saladino to regularly make the comment after a tight win - such as the two games against Mount Pleasant his side won by nine and four points - that "this was a game we probably would have lost last year".

"We've been playing a lot smarter footy late in games this year, which has helped us get a few clutch wins," Price said.

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"A couple of those close wins have been against Mounts... they are obviously a side that is young and fit and as they showed last weekend (four-point win over White Hills in preliminary final) they can run all day.

"We said at the start of the year we wanted to be the fittest side, so we worked really hard during the pre-season when it was hot.

"We'll have the fresher legs having only played the one final, whereas Mounts will have more match fitness having played three finals, so on a warm day (forecast 23 degrees) it's going to be interesting to see which team runs it out better."

For long-time supporters of not only Heathcote and Mount Pleasant, but the HDFNL, Saturday's grand final will no doubt revive memories of the '90s when the Saints and Blues played in four grand finals in a row between 1992 and 1995.

"It was mentioned last week the possibility that it could be Mounts and us again in the grand final; there has obviously been a great rivalry between the two clubs over a long period of time," Price said.

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