AFTER 19 weeks of competition, the 2022 South West District Football League bragging rights will be settled when Cavendish and Dartmoor face-off in the season decider at Heywood Recreation Reserve.

The Bloods will be out to end a 29-year senior premiership drought – having last tasted the ultimate glory in 1993 – while the Giants will be chasing their seventh flag in what shapes as a tantalising encounter on Saturday.

The two teams opened their 2022 campaigns against each other in a low-scoring battle that the Bloods won by five points, and repeated the dose in round 10 with a 10-point victory, while the Giants got one back in round 15 with a massive 84-point margin.

The fourth encounter between the two sides was during the first week of the finals, with Cavendish winning by 38 points.

Bloods coach, Clinton Thomas said he was excited about the opportunity after building the club up over recent years.

“For us it has been a steady build, since 2019 we have really been building up to this,” he said.

“It is coming together, and we have done what we’ve had to do to give us a chance.”

Along with Coleraine, Cavendish and Dartmoor have been top three sides all season and the red and white expects a tough contest on Saturday.

“They are a very hard and competitive team, and we love it,” Thomas said.

“The boys love that tough, hard footy.

“Dartmoor brings that and we are looking forward to the opportunity to showcase our competitiveness.”

Cavendish goes into the decider with a full squad available, while the Giants will also have all key players available for the game.

Dartmoor playing-coach, Jayden Polaski said the team was not looking too far ahead after reaching the grand final with three finals already played.

“The nerves are pretty good, the boys have been up and about which helps,” he said.

“We just have to attack the game, we have found ourselves in good form lately; we think it (playing through each final) has held us in good stead, I think we are in a pretty good position.

“We have put the work in, and we have managed to keep the list over the last few years.

“At this time of year, I think we are as good as we can be at this time of year.”

There will be critical matchups right across the ground with gamebreakers for both teams able to dominate proceedings at different times.

Christian Howlett and Sam Gibson will be the big targets up forward for Dartmoor and Cavendish respectively, with Thomas conscious of not focusing too much on any one player.

“Key match-ups will be critical, and Dartmoor is a great team in the sense they have a number of guys who can pop their head up,” he said.

“They have got plenty of avenues they can play through.

“It is about controlling the tempo, there will be times when green light footy works, you are going to need to have the ability to control it at key stages.

“We are very fortunate to have some strong senior experiences, the Coghlans (Jon and Peter), Gibbo (Sam Gibson), Brad (Thomas) and even Jack Behncke have all played a lot of footy.”

Polaski has plenty of depth and talent to work with also and was backing in the team’s even spread to cause headaches for Cavendish.

“We are pretty fortunate on each line, Wal (Jarrod O’Brien) down back, Lachie (Polaski) off the flank, then the midfield drive, then of course Christian (Howlett), Gully (Dylan Gull) and Murph (Jordan Murphy) up forward,” he said.

“It is the same both ways, they have got Gibson for them, and we have got a couple of weapons for us.”

With the forecast expected to provide near perfect conditions for the game, it remains to be seen how well the ground has drained after heavy rains in recent weeks.

For the Giants, the team is keeping the message simple for the players.

“It is just rock up and get the job done, we are not going to reinvent the wheel and we think we have got enough to get the job done,” Polaski said.

“The boys have picked themselves up after this year after everything, so it is a credit to them to get into this position and they will have one more crack in them.

“You hope he (Korrey Smith, the Dartmoor ruckman who tragically died earlier this season) will give us a bit of luck from up there, he will definitely be beside us and would definitely like to have him out there beside us, but he will be with us for sure.”

As for the Bloods ending their premiership drought, Thomas said the players were using their own motivation ahead of the season decider.

“The boys have got a culture and they are doing it for their brothers,” he said.

“We have had an incredible amount of support from the community, but at the end of the day the motivation is each other.”