Lions roar into BFNL grand final showdown

SUNBURY will lean on the trust and belief it has built this season when it attempts to bring down premiership favourite Darley in this Saturday’s BFNL grand final.

The Lions will go into the clash at City Oval buoyed by a rousing extra-time victory over a brave Melton in last Saturday’s preliminary final.

At 0-3 against the Devils this season, the latest being a 38-point semi-final loss a fortnight ago, they will be the underdogs.

Lions coach Matthew White will be counting on a repeat of last Saturday’s preliminary final heroics and strong finish.

“We need to be able to take the game on and brace when they are going to have a run on, because Darley are a great team,” he said.

 

“We know they are going to go on runs.

“Like Melton (last week), they are that good of a team; they were always going to go on runs.

“So it’s just about when we get our opportunity to explode and get a score on the board, we have to take it.

“Sometimes you need to embrace the fact that you can’t get things on your terms and you can’t control the game for 120 minutes.

“We are glad to get another crack at them.

“I spoke to Dan (Darley coach Dan Jordan) a while ago and said I was looking forward to playing you three times during the year – now it’s four times.

 

“They’ve beaten us three times, so let’s hope we can make it one from four.”

After surviving a tough 130-minute battle against the Bloods, White – who has guided the Lions into a grand final in his second season at the helm of his junior club – lauded his players’ resilience and character.

“We probably didn’t have it the previous week and Darley was able to run over the top of us as the class act that they are,” he said.

“But we were able to rally (against Melton).

“I really loved the effort and what we were able to bring to the table.

 

“We just got the basics and the defensive stuff right and when we do that, we are a bloody good team.”

White, whose last trip to a grand final was as a player in 2017 with Port Adelaide Magpies in a one-point loss to Sturt, said despite some difficulties during the season, he was always confident the Lions could find their way through to a grand final.

“We had a couple of losses in the middle of the year, but even off that, there were patches in those games where we did play really well, but just didn’t do the basics that we normally do very well,” he said.

“We just had to hone in on a few things at training and get some home truths out of a few people.

“A couple of people moved positions to be more comfortable and it’s paid off for us.”

While 22 players will get a shot at senior premiership senior glory, White is hellbent on ensuring the playing group and club get around two who won’t get the chance, the injured Josh Guthrie and Cody Bramble.

“They are two big players for us,” he said.

 

“We lost Cody at the start of the year and Guth halfway through against Darley.

“We love those boys to death and we are feeling for them that we are going to be there and they’re not.

“We’ll get around them and support them as best we can.”

While wanting to look forward to the opportunity ahead, White did take time to reflect on a thoroughly brave effort by the Bloods, who injury and illness woes this season are well documented.

“They are a fantastic football club – the reigning premier. They have been up there for the last three or four years,” he said.

“Well coached and just a really well drilled team.

“It took us 130 minutes and to dig deep to get that win.

“As I said to Scobes (Troy Scoble) after the game, I hope this is the start of something and while we are in charge, we’ll have a really respectful rivalry.”

With the Lions’ senior and reserves football and A, B, C, D and E-grade netball teams all through to the big dance, White is looking forward to a big grand final day for the club.

“As a club, we really enjoyed getting around our girls last year when they won it,” he said.

“It felt like a real big win for the whole club.

“Hopefully we can get all seven cups.”