Falcons look to prey on Broncos in last years Grand Final Rematch
IT will be a case of de ja vu on Saturday night when last year’s Championship Women’s grand finalist Hume City and Waverley face-off for the 2008 title.
After bouncing back from a stellar Australia Clubs Championship series last year where they managed runners-up, Hume City finished at the top of the 2008 table on 18 wins and three losses.
The Broncos head into this match after taking the semi-final series form Melbourne in just two games.
The Falcons, however, pushed the semi-final series out to three games against Dandenong in order to earn their right to fight for the title.
Broncos coach Glen Milner said his side was pleased to be suiting up again for the grand final series and hoped to repeat last year’s results.
“We thing we’ve have a really good preparation coming into (the series) and we’ve been able to regain Belinda Campbell and Ellie McLean who have recovered from injury,” Milner said.
“So we’ll have fully fit team heading into this weekend.”
The first time these two sides met was back in round one, when it was Waverley who took the 15-point honours.
The next two clashes in rounds 11 and 13 saw Hume City turn the tables on their opponents, taking 13-point and three-point wins respectively.
Milner said despite the Broncos’ holding the head to head record over the Falcons, they were very wary of the capability of Waverley.
“It’s going to be a very competitive series, as you can see from the result,” the coach said.
“Apart from the first game, the other two have been really tight and we only prevailed by a tight margin.”
Milner said both sides were well-equipped to handle the grand-final pressure and expected high-quality ball to be played.
“It’ll be whoever can manage the better team defence that gets up,” he said.
Waverley coach Matt Dickins said his side, who finished second on 15 wins and six losses, was looking forward to the challenge ahead of them.
“I’ve definitely got confidence in my team, but there’s no way you can disrespect Hume – they’ve proven by where they finished up on ladder that they are the team to beat,” Dickins said.
“They’ve got a lot of smart heads on the court.”
The coach believed his side would have to work hard and play at its best if it was going to be in with a chance of taking the title.
“The key to the championship is consistency – whichever team can remain the most consistent in however many minutes we play will be the one who takes the title,” Dickins said.
“Hume go fairly deep, it’s a little be like Dandenong last week, different people have hurt us in different games and I’m not going to rule any players out.”
For Hume City, it will be Elyse Penaluna (14.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg), Naomi Pedro (13.5 ppg, 5.9rpg, 4.1 apg) as well as the Championship Women’s Golden Hands winner Sharin Milner (13.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.0 apg) who lead the charge.
For the Falcons it is expected that the division’s 2008 leading goal-scorer Kathleen MacLeod (18.1 ppg, 4.0rpg, 5.6 apg) will head their attack, with Larissa Anderson (14.6ppg, 7.6rpg, 2.5apg) and Julie Brookhouse (13.1ppg, 4.3rpg , 2.2 apg) expected to rack up some impressive numbers.
Tip-off for game one is 6pm on Saturday night at Waverley Stadium.
For more information or to schedule an interview please contact Big V Media Manager LAURA BANKS on 0400 856 343 or media@bigv.com.au
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