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THE finals of the WDCA A grade season are less than a month away and with the ladder sitting as it is, the top three teams are ready to have a shot at the title.
Rovers United Bruck (RUB) sit at third and are a shoe–in to play finals, but skipper Paddy McNamara said it was no excuse for the Hawks to ease up on their playing intent.
"I can't believe finals are just around the corner, but I suppose that's what happens when it's all one dayers, everything goes past pretty quickly," he said.
"We've got to just keep taking it one week at a time and see how we go.
"It will also be good to get a few blokes in form and whatnot to finish off the season and get ready for finals.
"These three games, there's still a lot on the line, so it's really important we finish."
The Hawks are just 0.02 points behind second place side Yarrawonga Mulwala and with a bad history of ending in the bronze medal position, RUB are eager to get as many wins as possible.
"Obviously we really want that top two position so to keep winning and winning well is very important – it gives us a home semi–final," McNamara said.
"The last couple of seasons we've actually finished third and the game's been rain affected which has obviously put us at the worse end.
"Finishing second would mean we wouldn't have to worry if it was rain affected, which is not the greatest way to win but it's better than losing."
The Hawks face off against Ovens Valley United who currently sit out of finals contention, which means the Tigers have nothing to lose and will be out for blood.
"We can't take this game lightly – obviously you look at ladder position and games won and they haven't really had a great season but they've definitely got some good players and once they get going they can be hard to stop," McNamara said.
"We can't take it lightly, we've got to come again with the right attitude and hopefully we can get through a couple of early wickets and keep their good bowlers quiet.
"We'll probably just stick with our best side for the time being.
"Obviously unavailability is always a little bit difficult but if we can get our best side out on the park and really keep the boys together, that's what we'll be aiming for."
RUB take on Ovens Valley United at 1pm tomorrow at McNamara Reserve in Myrtleford – in other matches around the area, Beechworth Wanderers host City Colts, Benalla Bushrangers take on Yarrawonga Mulwala, and the Magpies travel down the highway to take on Delatite.





