Whittlesea’s hard work and determination has paid off in division 2 of the Northern Football League, with the Eagles one win away from a premiership.
A year after being relegated, the Eagles have the chance to go straight back to division 1 by beating minor premier Lalor in Saturday’s grand final.
After being a little inconsistent over the final home-and-away rounds of the season, the Eagles have hit form at the right time.
They ended Fitzroy Stars’ season the previous weekend and saw off Hurstbridge 20.14 (134) – 14.15 (99) on Saturday.
For Eagles coach Brad Dean, the grand final spot is reward for what the players have put in.
“We took the form from last week’s game into this game,” he said after the win. “We haven’t been playing badly, but in rounds 16, 17 and 18 we were down on work rate and effort.”
Dean put the win against Hurstbridge down to work rate.
“We started well in the first 10-15 minutes and were three goals up,” he said. “They came back at us and scores were level at quarter-time but we kicked away late to lead at half-time.
“The boys understood the challenge and the opportunity they had in front of them.
“The work rate in the second half was as good as I’ve seen it in my two years as coach.”
Joel Bramble, Scott McAuliffe and Chris Horman were the best in an even performance.
Horman kicked five goals in a performance the Eagles didn’t see coming, with the forward in a moon boot until recently.
Dean said the Eagles still had room to improve in the grand final.
“Andrew Fairchild and Matt Dornauf have been our most two consistent performers all year but they didn’t have much influence [on Saturday] and it was good to have other guys step up,” he said.
“Andrew played a lot in the midfield and we all know he can play up forward, so we have things up our sleeve.”
The Eagles are now focusing on the grand final at Preston City Oval and not what happens next year if they win.
“We’re really confident,” Dean said.
“It’s an opportunity for 22 boys to play in a premiership and we aren’t putting too much thought into what happens after that.”
The Eagles have won all three matches against Lalor this year.
