HDFNL GRAND FINAL: Saints and Blues to battle for 2023 premiership

The Saints will play Mount Pleasant in Saturday's Heathcote District league grand final.

A warm grand final day is expected, with 23 degrees forecast for the decider where the Saints will be gunning for their first premiership since 2010.

It has been a contrasting route into the grand final for the two combatants.

After finishing on top of the ladder for the first time since their last premiership year in 2010 the Saints had the first week of the finals off, then beat White Hills by 15 points in the second semi-final and then had another break last week to further freshen up.

Conversely, Mount Pleasant, which finished fourth, has had to win three cut-throat finals to keep its season alive.

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

"I've been saying all year that I have felt we are one of the fittest sides in the competition and with the way we move the footy, I think the big ground at Huntly gives us a lot of confidence," Saladino said this week.

"Our spread has been quite good on the bigger grounds and given it's going to be sunny and somewhere around 23 degrees or so, I'm excited to see if we really are the fittest team in the competition.

"I'm hoping the weather and the ground might suit us that bit more, particularly with Mounts having had to play three solid finals over the past month.

"We've worked really hard on our fitness from day one of pre-season and this is why we put in the work... it's for this moment on the weekend on a warm day on a big ground.

"It's probably going to be a bit of a survival of the fittest... bring it on, we can't wait."

Saladino - a former Heathcote player who spent 13 years away from the club before his coaching appointment - has led what has been a dramatic turnaround for the Saints.

When he was appointed Heathcote coach in October of 2021 the Saints had previously won just 14 of 109 games between 2014 and 2021.

In Saladino's first year at the helm in 2022 the Saints improved to seven wins and finished sixth before taking the big step forward this year of not only qualifying for their first finals series since 2013, but doing so by finishing on top of the ladder with a 13-3 record.

At a time when salary caps and the player points system makes it so much more difficult for long-term strugglers such as Heathcote had been to rise quickly, it truly is remarkable to think in a competition that continues to get stronger, just two years after the Saints had lost their last three games of 2021 all by triple-figure margins, including being held goal-less in their final game that season against LBU, that they are now just one win away from a premiership.

Of that Heathcote team back in round 16 of 2021 that lost 25.14 (164) to 0.7 (7) to LBU, just over 30 games later almost half of it will now get to experience a grand final - Tom Pain, Billy Price, Will Long, Victor Butler, Jordan Cavallaro, Joseph Beedle, Mitch McLean, Ben Connelly and Lachlan Freeman.

Captain Codie Price, too, after joining the Saints in 2019 has ridden the journey from copping regular hidings to now playing in a grand final, while the hard luck story is defender Brayden Klemke.

Klemke first played seniors with the Saints in 2015, but a hamstring injury suffered in the second semi-final win over White Hills will keep him out of Saturday's grand final, with Victor Butler the inclusion.

The Saints' team includes midfielder Liam Jacques, who returned this year and won the Cheatley Medal.

Should the Saints prevail on Saturday Jacques will join LBU's Tyler Phillips (last year), North Bendigo's Joel Helman (2019), Colbinabbin pair Ben Johnston (2008) and Damian Slater (2004) and Elmore's Andy Grant (2007) with the premiership-Cheatley double in the past two decades.

Ruckman/forward Braden Padmore - who finished third in the Cheatley Medal - was the best player for the Saints in both their tight home and away wins over the Blues, while Corey Grindlay is also a clear X-factor to Heathcote's chances given not only his class inside 50, but as he showed in the second semi-final, he can also impact up the ground.

Since returning from a broken finger Grindlay has kicked 22 goals in five games.

The Saints' side includes four players who were named in the HDFNL's Team of the Year - Codie Price (half-back), Padmore (centre), Grindlay (forward pocket) and Jacques (rover), plus Saladino as coach.

THERE'S a saying that if you keep knocking, eventually you will bang the door down.

And once again Mount Pleasant is knocking on the door of the Heathcote District league premiership - but will it finally open on Saturday?

The Blues will face Heathcote in Saturday's grand final at Huntly.

The Blues - the most successful club in HDFNL history with 19 premierships - have been around the mark for several years now, but still haven't been able to break through for that first premiership since 2006.

Mount Pleasant was knocked out in the preliminary final in 2019, there was no season in 2020 or finals played in 2021, while the Blues were beaten grand finalists against LBU last year.

Another opportunity beckons on Saturday for what is a battle-hardened Mount Pleasant that after finishing fourth has won three cut-throat finals against Leitchville-Gunbower (26 points), North Bendigo (14) and White Hills (4) to book its ticket into the grand final.

"The bodies are holding up well; there's always going to be a few little niggles at this time of the year, but the bonus for our group is we're such a young and fit side and the boys keep themselves in good nick and that's what is getting us through," Mount Pleasant co-coach Adam Baird said this week.

"If we were an older side we might be feeling it a bit more, but being such a young group that has helped get us through the three finals and into the grand final."

The Blues' grand final side features 13 players who played in last year's beaten team by 20 points against LBU and get their shot at redemption - Daniel Whiting, Michael Whiting, Sam Greene, Pat O'Brien, Bryce Hinneberg, Zeb Murrell, Will Wallace, Fletcher White, Nick Butler, Chris Down, Riley McNamra, Baird and Caelan Smith.

A notable absentee from last year's grand final side is one of the competition's stars in the experienced Ben Weightman.

While Weightman remains with the Blues this year as co-coach and was the winner of the league goalkicking with 67, he has missed the entire finals series with two bulging discs in his back, making Mount Pleasant's challenging path through to Saturday all the more meritorious.

The Blues have made one change to their side that won a thrilling preliminary final against White Hills by four points last week.

The hard-at-it Nick Butler returns from a broken finger in place of forward Nick Edwards, while after having to miss last year with a broken collarbone, Bailey White will get his chance to play in a grand final.

Overall, the Blues carry in the formline of five wins in a row.

As well as their three-straight finals victories, the Blues also won their last two home and away games, including round 18 against LBU in what was a game where the Cats needed to win to qualify for the finals.

Crucially in their three finals wins the Blues have been able to get out of the blocks and start well, outscoring their opposition by 47 points in their three opening terms of the finals.

Those 13 players who played in last year's grand final won't need any reminding of the importance of starting well after LBU kicked five goals to two in the opening term, forcing the Blues to play catch-up footy.

Baird is confident the continuity of playing week-after-week throughout the finals - as opposed to Heathcote having played just one final - will hold the Blues in good stead on Saturday.

"Our confidence is right up and even though we haven't had a break during the finals, the momentum has kept building," said Baird, who is preparing for the 10th senior grand final of his career.

"Winning form is good form and that continuity has been really important because during the year when we've come off a bye we'd come out a bit flat, so I've been thinking had we had a week off during the finals it may not have been that helpful to us."

Like Heathcote, Mount Pleasant is also well represented in the HDFNL Team of the Year with Fletcher White (back pocket), Will Wallace (centre half-back), Ben Weightman (full-forward), the lightning quick Mitch Rovers (forward pocket) and Baird (rover) all selected.

SATURDAY'S Heathcote District league grand final between Heathcote and Mount Pleasant offers both a sense of freshness for the competition and a dose of nostalgia.

The sense of freshness comes in that whichever team wins, a premiership drought will be broken given the Saints haven't won a flag since 2010 and the Blues last saluted in 2006.

And for the nostalgic followers of the HDFNL, Saturday will no doubt conjure up memories of the 1990s when Mount Pleasant and Heathcote faced off in four-straight grand finals between 1992 and 1995, with the Blues winning three of the battles.

READ MORE: Reliving the Mount Pleasant-Heathcote rivalry of the 90s

What a rivalry it was through those years and plenty has changed in the league since with clubs coming (North Bendigo, LBU and Leitchville-Gunbower) and going (Rushworth and Broadford).

Back to modern day, the Saints and Blues have played two rippers already this year with Heathcote winning both by nine and four points, although Mounts had more scoring shots in both.

The two sides are almost identical in terms of their average score for and against - Heathcote is 96/65 and Mount Pleasant 94/63 - but the glaring difference is the build-up to get to Saturday.

Will it be the fresher legs of the Saints that have played one final that proves pivotal on a warm day, or will the match-hardened Blues with three cut-throat finals wins that ride the wave of momentum for another week?

SELECTIONS:

Adam Bourke - Heathcote (22).

Luke West - Heathcote (28).

GRAND FINAL

HEATHCOTE v MOUNT PLEASANT

2.15pm Saturday at Huntly.

HEATHCOTE

B: W.Long, W.Direen, J.Beedle

HB: C.Hamilton, B.Connelly, C.Price

C: R.Bolton, C.Birch, M.McLean

HF: H.McCarthy, J.Cavallaro, S.Dowsett

F: C.Grindlay, L.Birch, V.Butler

R: B.Padmore, T.Pain, L.Jacques

Int: B.Price, L.Inness, J.Davies, L.Freeman

MOUNT PLEASANT

B: D.Whiting, M.Bennett, M.Whiting

HB: T.McNamara, B.White, S.Greene

C: P.O'Brien, B.Hinneberg, Z.Murrell

HF: M.Wakefield, W.Wallace, M.Rovers

F: J.Mackenzie, F.White, N.Butler

R: C.Down, R.McNamara, A.Baird

Int: Z.Charles, C.Smith, C.Dunlop, C.Moore

WHITE HILLS v NORTH BENDIGO

11.20am Saturday at Huntly

WHITE HILLS

Aaron Schofield, Doolan Nihill, Reilley Porter, Jayden Sheean, Nicholas Wharton, Riley Beard, James Avery, Chris Wild, Josh Harris, Ryan Clark, Liam Monaghan, Hamish Goggin, Fraser Banfield, Matthew Cox, Rohan Cadzow, Joe Gardy, Tom Parkinson, Mitchell Griffin, Patrick Blood, Isaac Griffin, Ethan Arnold, Xavier Meersbergen

NORTH BENDIGO

Denzel Cooper, Adam Wild, Tyson Towers, Lewis Thomas, Jayden McCarroll, Justin Moon, Michael Thompson, Harlan Draper, Ryan Gow, Tyler Bird, Tom Tavaga, Jonas Somerville, Zaiyden Richards, Pat Bogers, Bailey Wingrave, Austin Robinson, Lucas Keating, Jack Towers, Daniel Love, Sam Demeo, Aaron Leahy, Tyler Kinder

NORTH BENDIGO v HUNTLY

9.30am Saturday at Huntly

NORTH BENDIGO

Oliver Kean, Bailey Hird, Max Paetow, Samuel Burns, Will Gilmore, Harry Pysing, Nathan Anderson, Jett Grundy, Lucas Jackson, Mason Lane, Noah Filo, Harper Hodgens, Jonty Hobbs, Lincoln Smith, Brodie Reaper, Senna Marsili, Reece Mitchell, Jack Pysing, Corey May, Finn Paetow, Brandyn Barilari, Jimmy Webb

HUNTLY

Nathaniel Keune, Hunter Connors, Mitchell Lawrence, Ben Miller, Deacon Wheelhouse, Archer Billings, Jackson MUSGROVE, Jack Cook, Ethan Oaten, Felix Barber, Judd Gilchrist, Patrick Henderson, Thomas Miller, Dylan Wilson, Drew Costigan, jett rowell, Marcus Dunstone, Jack Morrow, Josh Trotter, Kade Kalms, Daniel Artavilla, Kori Crothers

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