By Tara Murray
Craigieburn Eagles will enter the Big V women’s division 2 finals series full of confidence after claiming the minor premiership.
The Eagles, who didn’t make finals last season, finished one game clear of Wallan Panthers thanks to their 15 ins for the season.
Eagles coach Ben Carroll said that while the players were excited about playing finals, anticipation had been building because they had sealed their spot weeks ago.
“We had secured a top, two three or four weeks ago,” he said.
“We’d known the last two weeks we would finish on top. It’s more that anticipation for finals to come round.
“With the week off, we still have to wait another week before we can sink our teeth in properly.”
Carroll said one of the keys for the Eagles had been winning in the middle of season when they had a number of players out injured.
Only veteran Kellie Bailey-Lynn has played every game for the Eagles, while Shona Brooks only missed games while playing for the youth league squad.
“To get through the middle part of the season, it has set our year up,” he said.
“We’ll get a real crack with pretty much a full squad.
“We’ve brought four players back in over the last month. They have been playing every week, but hardly trained.
“Now they’re able to train. We had the best training session we’d had in three months, which is important.”
The Eagles enter the finals on the back of a 59-34 loss to Wallan Panthers.
The Panthers, who were looking to secure second spot and a home game in the first week of finals, jumped out of the blocks with an 18-3 first quarter and managed and maintained that momentum for the rest of the match.
Carroll wasn’t too disappointed with the result.
“Not really a good game from the scoreboard perspective, but we didn’t have a whole to play for,” he said.
“It was just about getting through with nobody getting hurt and we were successful with that.”
The Eagles have this week off before facing Wallan or Melbourne University the following week.
Carroll said taking out the championship this season would be good reward for how far the Eagles had come.
“This year to finish on top is a big tick,” Carroll said. “We set ourselves the goal of in two years to be back up in division 1. It’s a really good opportunity to maybe create something.”
The vibe around the club is excellent, with the men’s side also claiming the minor premiership and the youth league men’s side making the finals.
