We’ve had to fight pretty hard to get here, but we’ve been here before and we know what it’s like. Hopefully that little bit of experience will help us out across the weekend. JORDAN BLADES
BRUCK will aim to complete its giantkilling run through the Wangaratta and District finals when it locks horns with Beechworth Wanderers for the premiership today.
Despite a heavy loss to Yarrawonga-Mulwala in last season’s grand final, Bruck captain Jordan Blades is confident his team has the goods, especially after upsetting the Lakers last week.
“We know our best cricket is good enough, it’s just a matter of putting it on the park,” he said.
“We’ve had to fight pretty hard to get here, but we’ve been here before and we know what it’s like.
“Hopefully that little bit of experience will help us out across the weekend.”
Blades’ biggest concern was Beechworth’s batting, which due to a big loss in the one day final and a regular season washout, was an unknown.
“We haven’t been able to get a good look at their batting just yet, so that’s an obstacle we’ll have to overcome,” he said.
“But in saying that, I think our bowling is good enough to handle whatever gets thrown at it.
“Jon Hyde has been good for us through the final stages of the season, likewise Jeremy Wilson.
“Alex Marklew is another one who I have a lot of confidence in, once he picks up a wicket or two he really gets going and finds an extra bit of pace and bounce.”
Wanderers captain Brenton Surrey wasn’t expecting a repeat of the one-day final thrashing.
“I’ll be surprised if the game blows out like that one did,” he said.
“But at the end of the day we aren’t really thinking about any of that, we just want to be able to get out there and play some good cricket.”
Surrey has led a young Wanderers team through a successful season, and said the grand final would be the biggest test they had faced all year.
“I don’t know whether we thought we’d be here at the start of the season, but the boys have shown they have what it takes to be successful at this level,” he said.