Three-peat dream alive for Rovers

It’s tough to win a flag, two in two years is nigh impossible… but three back-to-back-to-back premierships is something very few teams have ever had the honour of compiling. But it is just such an honour which the Wangaratta Rovers are on the cusp of securing, winning through to their third consecutive senior football grand final with the hope to adding a new cup alongside their ’25 and ’24 chalices. The Rovers won through to the decider the hard way, losing the major semi-final to the Magpies before dominating the Saints in the prelim. The major narrative around the Rovers this season has been injury-focussed – they’ll be without key swingman Nathan Cooper who suffered a season-ending ACL injury back in August, and coach Sam Murray, forward Will Christie, ruckman Ed Dayman, and captain Tom Boyd have all been plagued with injuries throughout the season. Murray said the side was fit and healthy, and relishing the chance to take to the field on the last day of the season. “Our boys have actually responded really well, I know there’s been a little bit of commentary around limping in, but there’s none of that from our perspective,” he said. “My body’s feeling great, Tom Boyd’s put together a really good body of work over the past five or six weeks and starting to play some great footy, Will Christie was a completely different player [on the weekend], Ed Dayman’s hand issues are non-existent. “The group of players who have had a few injuries have responded really well – we’ve got no excuses not to be at our best. “It’s starting to feel a little bit familiar which is good, a blessing in some senses in we’ve been lucky enough to play on the last day the past three years. “We’re lucky to have 15 to 16 players who have been in this position over the past two years, and the majority of our list bar one or two last year. “It’s something we’re pretty prepared for and taking it day by day which is good.” There’s a reason the Rovers have been on the big stage time and again, and it’s not exactly a secret – they’re really bloody good at footy. With stars across the field, and a winning mentality, the Rovers will be backing their guns to help drive standards and claw themselves closer to the flag. “We build our plan off our defensive method, and our backs play a really important part in that,” Murray said. “If you look at our key pillars back there in Tom [Boyd], Jace [McQuade] and Charles [Ledger], three of the best defenders in the competition at what they do, and they’re supported really well by our hybrids and smalls in Xavier [Allison], Joel [Smith], Kieren [Parnell], Brodie Paul came in last week and played a really good game. “We have a talented midfield, we were challenged in there two weeks ago when we played them [Magpies]. “If we can get that part of our game working, we feel we get good opportunity with our forwards, so it’s an important factor for us. “We’ve got [Will] Christie as our key stay-at-home forward this year, but he’s well supported by our smalls who are really going to relish the opportunity to play in perfect weather it looks like on a deck that’s really fast, so we back them in - guys like Shooter [Noah Scholte], Brodie Filo, Dyl Wilson are very opportunistic forwards."

Three-peat dream alive for Rovers

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