History will be made in senior grand final

NO matter who you support or who eventually wins, the 2022 Ovens and King senior grand final is already one for the ages. For Bonnie Doon, tomorrow will mark their first senior grand final appearance in the O&K since joining the league in 2010, while Benalla All Blacks will aim for their first senior flag in any league since 1981. The entire season, since round one on March 26 and even earlier with preseason, has led to this moment. The Bombers had to go the long way round, vanquishing Goorambat, Greta and Bright on the road to the cup, while the Panthers won through to the big game with a single semi–final victory. Bonnie Doon coach Ken Murray said the finals campaign has gelled the side together in a profound way. "They've been up and about for weeks now – I don't need to do much for them at all, they're a really self–motivated bunch," he said. "I'm just enjoying the ride with them at the moment. "They were pumped to make the grand final, but they were very quick to turn their attention to what comes next, and making it isn't enough in their eyes. "I think the clearance work is going to be crucial – whoever can spread from the clearance is going to be hard to stop when they go forward. "Benalla have got a much–lauded forward line that everyone speaks of and knows, and if we can't keep pressure on at the source of the stoppage and those clearances, they're going to get a lot of good looks. "It doesn't matter how well our defenders are going, if a good side gets good looks for their forwards, they're going to be hard to stop." With the likes of league best and fairest winner Riley Moran, runner up Jackson Hourigan, and centurion goalkicker Lachy Thompson all running out in their black gear, Benalla is going to be hard to beat. "We thought leading into the season it might be us and Bonnie Doon," Benalla coach Nic Spencer said. "We feel like we're the best team, the only team who can beat us is us – as long as we play our game, turn up and are right to go mentally and physically, then we've got full confidence in our ability. "Bonnie Doon are fit, they're quick, and I like the way they play with their ball movement. "They're slick, they like to feed the hands and they're happy to take the short option. "We're a very good ball movement side, we're pretty big and we are fit, so I think we're going to match up with them very well. "There's a feeling amongst the group when we play a big game, it's in the rooms, you can tell that we're on. "I'm pretty confident that our group will get that feeling again and come out there and put on a show." The 2022 Ovens and King senior grand final between the Benalla All Blacks Panthers and the Bonnie Doon Bombers kicks off from 2.15pm tomorrow.

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