HAVING played in many HDCA C grade grand finals, Casterton District is yet to hold the JLC Young Shield as premier, and Grampians will be out to ensure it doesn’t happen this season either when the two teams face-off in the decider at PP1 this afternoon.
It has been a remarkably consistent run of performance for the Maroons, with captain, Will Kerr, desperate to breakthrough and claim victory in the season decider.
“We’ve been in the last five C grade grand finals and unfortunately have fallen short each time,” he said.
“Reaching it again shows our consistency in achieving results and we are more determined than ever to go all the way.”
Kerr’s inclusion into the team after three weeks off will also boost the Maroons’ prospects of a premiership victory.
Grampians will go into the clash full of confidence after finishing the season as minor premier.
Pumas captain, Eddie McShane, is expecting another tough outing, despite getting the better of Casterton District earlier in the season.
“Reaching the grand final has been what we set out to do from the first round and now we’re here, we just need to put one more solid performance on the park,” he said.
“We have beaten Casterton District twice, but we are yet to play their full-strength side with our full-strength side, so it will be a hot game with plenty of big names in Casterton not to take lightly.
“Kane Forbes is a massive wicket we need early that will go a long way to us winning.”
Kerr said he wasn’t getting sucked into thinking previous results mattered this afternoon.
“Previous games do highlight key areas that we’ll need to target, but our line-up has changed significantly, stabilising coming into the finals has shown in our form going into the grand final,” he said.
“I think Craig Templeton is the biggest threat for us, he’s a highly mature and technical batsman who the middle order can anchor around.
“If we get him cheaply or can keep him off strike, we’ll be confident in finishing off the tail cheaply.”
The C grade decider gets underway at 1pm.
