By Josh Ward.
Scoresby and the Whitehorse Pioneers will battle it out for the Division 4 premiership and a return to Division 3 this Sunday at East Ringwood Reserve.
A sense of excitement surrounds both clubs heading into this weekend, with Scoresby competing in their first senior grand final since 2011 in Division 1 and Whitehorse playing in the first since 2018.
The Magpies were the first to qualify after knocking off Chirnside Park by 52 points in the second semi final at Bayswater Oval.
Senior coach Craig McKenzie said the build up to this weekend has been business as usual for both the senior and reserves sides.
“This week’s been pretty relaxed, we haven’t gone over the top. (Thursday) night we kept the sessions pretty short, it’s just been business as usual,” McKenzie said.
It’s been a different kind of preparation for the Pioneers who’ve trained at Nunawading’s Koonung Reserve since finals began.
“We’ve embraced training on a different oval during the finals series, obviously not getting to play at home and playing on a different ground.
“We’re embracing the challenge and I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far,” Pioneers playing coach Andrew Haining said.
So far they’ve won both their games at East Ringwood Reserve, defeating Kilsyth by five goals in the first semi final and Chirnside Park by 17 points in last weekend’s preliminary final.
Despite some tough conditions the last couple of weekends, Haining says the group has enjoyed playing on the wide expanses of East Ringwood Reserve.
“We’re calling it our little home away from home and we’re enjoying (the) opportunity to play on East Ringwood for as many games as possible.”
This weekend marks the first time since last year’s preliminary final that Scoresby’s senior side will play at East Ringwood Reserve.
“East Ringwood’s a ground that’s got a bit of width to it, and most of the Division 4 are not very big. We always back in our fitness, that’s something we hope to use in our favour,” McKenzie said.
There’ll be plenty of intriguing matchups across the park, none more so than the battle between Scoresby’s Adam Amin and Pioneers forward duo Daniel Horvat and Tom Young.
Amin enters this game sitting only two goals away from the 100 goal mark, with 20 goals in his last two games seeing him move closer to the milestone.
“We talked about what it could look like, what our mentality is around that and how we move forward after we celebrate it if it happens,” McKenzie said.
On the other hand, Haining says the return of Young and Horvat, among other key names, along with some hard truths has helped the Pioneers return to form.
“Having two forwards that are in form will help (this weekend). But they’re no good if our midfield can’t perform by getting the footy down to them.”
A win for the Pioneers would see them secure the club’s first senior premiership since 2018 and would add to what’s already been a special 75th anniversary season for the club.
“I think it’s been a really successful year for the club so we’re just really excited with all the support and trying to get as many people down to East Ringwood on Sunday in the maroon to cheer us on,” Haining said.
For Scoresby a win this Sunday would mark the club’s first premiership since their 2006 Division 2 success, a game which saw McKenzie’s brother pull on the black and white.
McKenzie says that victory on Sunday would mean a lot for all the volunteers and fans who’ve been through thick and thin in recent history.
“It would obviously be very special, but at the same time we’ve been very calculated in our approach this season so we’re trying very hard not to think about the end result.”
