On Saturday, the club’s B-grade side is the only one facing elimination as it battles Seymour in Seymour, but all the other Murray Bombers’ finals sides could win straight into the grand final at Kyabram on Sunday.
The club’s A-grade netballers face up to regular rival Euroa with a finals spot beckoning, going in with confidence having won the only meeting between the sides this year 57-51.
“I'm going to speak to them tonight about the things that we did really well last time (against Euroa) and we need to make sure we bring those to the game,” said coach Bronwyn Slater.
“That was our full court defensive pressure, trying to get turnover a little bit earlier than the goal circle and then we obviously need to talk about what their strengths are and what we need to do to combat them.”
The side rounded into form in this week’s final against Shepparton Bears, winning 71-55 in a matchup Slater had identified as a dangerous one.
“We felt like they dropped a couple of games during the year that they had only lost through player unavailability and injury so they were probably a little bit unlucky to finish sixth,” she said.
“We were certainly wary that it wasn't probably a true third versus sixth game but having said that I was just so pleased with the way the girls played.”
One of the features of the Echuca A-grade team is the glut of talent in the attacking goal circle, with Sheridan Townrow, Belinda Lees and Rose Byrne all starring at stages of the season.
“I'm so lucky to have that depth and in different games certain goalers have stood up at different times,” Slater said.
“Certainly it was Sheri (Townrow) on the weekend she just played one out of the bag which was fabulous.
“I'll be honest it is a bit of a headache too because it's a shame to have one of those girls sitting on the bench next to me sometimes when I'd love to have them out on the court as well.
“I used to go in with a bit of a pre-game plan about who would go where and when that would happen and as time goes on I've realised that that just plays out on the day so fatigue comes into it, accuracy and certainly match-ups come into it.”
Echuca and Euroa’s A-grade sides will meet in Kyabram at 2.15pm on Sunday.
In senior football, finals upsets below them sees the Murray Bombers taking on fifth-placed finisher and the defending premier Kyabram in their qualifying final.
The game should prove a challenge for Echuca despite the gulf in records as Kyabram won the previous meeting by 20 points on July 25.
The Murray Bombers prevailed earlier in the year 12.11 (83) to 11.8 (74).
Echuca boasts perfect records in reserves and under-18 football, and will be heavy favourites to move on to their deciders as they battle Shepparton Bears and Benalla respectively.
The club’s junior netballers will also be chasing grand final places, with the 17-and-under squad taking on Shepparton Swans, and the 15-and-under Murray Bombers up against Mooroopna.
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