They’ve been the team out in front all year, but there’s a difference between being the best team through the year and winning a premiership.

Rovers United Bruck face Yarrawonga Mulwala in Saturday’s A grade clash at the gorgeous Benalla Gardens Oval, with the winner to claim eternal glory and have their name etched into the Geoff Welch Cup.

After 14 rounds of intense cricket and a semi-final which went down to the wire, just one match separates the Hawks from their ultimate goal.

The Rovers will be minor favourites heading into the decider, with only a single loss marring their perfect season to date.

Hawks skipper Jeremy Wilson played down his side’s hype, and said the match would come down to whoever performs on the day, not by past results.

“I don’t think we’re far and away the best team in the competition, it’s just the way the results have fallen,” he said.

“We’ve just got the job done when we need to, we’ve had the one slip-up, but for the most part we’ve just been really consistent.

“We’re pumped, it’s a grand final, so if you’re not pumped, you’re in the wrong sport.

“We’re keen to get there, we’re ready to go, and determined to finish the season really strongly.”

Consistency has been the key to the Hawks’ domination of the competition, with enough depth with bat and ball to cover off any rough patches suffered by any individual.

Their opening pair of Charith Perera and Ryan Collier are the third and seventh most prolific run scorers through the season, but RUB bat right down to nine or even deeper.

With ball in hand, they are one of the most feared attacks in the competition, from the reliability of Jacob Shonafinger and Ryan Barnes to the x-factor of Blake Nixon and Reid McNamara.

This attack knows how to take wickets and tie batters up, and have already run through the Lakers twice this season, dismissing them for 76 and 89 in the regular season.

“Every batting team is vulnerable to bowling attacks, I think we match up reasonably well against them but in saying that, they’ve probably got the strongest side they’ve had all year the last two weeks,” Wilson said.

“Nothing changes for us, we’ve just got to keep putting the balls in the right spot and hope the rest takes care of itself.

“Our bowling attack is quite settled, we’ve got a bit of variety so we can mix and match things as to what the situation needs.

“Our top five is really strong, but we’ll bat right down to nine, 10, 11 on Saturday – hopefully we won’t need to, but it’s a good problem to have.”

Wilson confirmed a squad of 14 would be whittled down to the playing 12 before the game, with A reserve players Bart Cann, Dean Shaw and Ryan Parsons all pushing for selection.

The Lakers will be tough to put down, boasting legitimate guns with bat and ball, but Wilson said they couldn’t focus on who they were playing, only how well they can perform when asked to.

“They’re a really good side, they’re well drilled, they know what they’ve got to do, and they’ve been in the situation before,” he said.

“They’re pretty stacked everywhere, so as far as them, you can look at it two ways: you can look at it like they’re a good side, how are we going to win, or you can just not worry about it.

“Whoever comes in to bat against us, we’ll just try and get them out, and when we’re batting, whoever’s bowling, we’ve just got to score runs.

“You can’t get too wrapped up in who the other team’s got, that’s not disrespect, it’s just the mentality that, as a side, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing.

“We just know that if we play our best cricket, it’ll be enough to bring home the chocolates at the end of the day.”

The 2025/26 WDCA A grade final between Rovers United Bruck and Yarrawonga Mulwala will be fought out at Benalla Gardens Oval this Saturday, 21 March, from 12.30pm.

The match will be livestreamed via Frogbox on the RUBCC Game Centre channel on YouTube.