South Bunbury, the most successful football club in Australia, are into another grand final and keen to make 2016 the year they rack up their club’s 71st premiership flag.
The Tigers league side have been a model of consistency this year, winning 16 of their regular season games to claim the minor premiership.
Having enjoyed a week’s break, the semi-final should have been the perfect opportunity for the side to book themselves a spot in the grand final.
But the Tigers bumped into a determined Collie side who got the jump on the home team in the second term and defended their lead for the remained of the match.
This forced South Bunbury into a preliminary final where they bounced back to good form to eliminate the Harvey Bulls and earn a spot in the decider against Collie.
The Tigers got the better of the Eagles in round three with an eight-goals-to-two second term. Chris Andrew was best for the Tigers that day but has spent the second half of the year out with injury.
South Bunbury also took the points when they travelled over the hill in round 12. Four goals to Guy Piggott proved to be the difference between the two sides on that occasion.
League coach Mark Docking demands the best from his charges, who frequently try to deliver.
After the match with Harvey, Docking told the Mail he hasn’t always been impressed with his side’s performance despite the fact they have continued to win games.
“It’s no secret I haven’t always been happy this year but we’ve been fortunate enough that we’ve been winning games,” he said. “The boys need to continue to have faith in their structure and be confident that we can keep it up for 25 minutes a quarter.”
Docking said the group have some good leaders who will help to keep the team settled this week as they prepare for the big game.
Among those are captain Matt Giacci who has continued to impress with his leadership and former WAFL players Kyle Hams and Anthony Tsalikis.
Brady London has also been excellent down in defence, stalking his opponent’s 50 metre arch and forcing a number of important turnovers.
While South Bunbury average one grand finals appearance every two-and-a-half years, their last league flag came in 2002 with a few more recent unsuccessful attempts.
If you can count on anything come Sunday, it’s that the Tigers will live up to their motto Cede Nullis – yield to none – and will do everything they can to win.