Moree Suns face Inverell Saints in AFL North West junior grand final for third consecutive year

Saturday’s grand final match, to be held at Inverell’s Varley Oval, will be a decider for the two teams, both of whom have one premiership under their belts.

Last year the Saints claimed the premiership trophy with a convincing win against the Suns, however the Suns won the 2016 inaugural junior grand final clash.

The Saints may have claimed this year’s minor premiership, but the Suns won the major semi-final to head straight through to this Saturday’s grand final.

Following the Suns’ impressive semi-final performance in the difficult wet conditions, Moree Suns secretary Annette Hadley is confident the boys have what it takes to beat the Saints on Saturday.

“I think our boys can do it,” she said.

“We went over there with not a full-strength side in the semis and they came away with the win. They put in a good performance and worked very hard in trying conditions with the rain. They kept their discipline.

“They did fall behind in the third quarter but they didn’t let it get to them.

“If we can get an equally good, if not better, team this weekend and if they maintain their discipline and intensity like they did in the semi, I think we can win.”

The Suns also won the last general round match against the Saints, which was in good weather.

“That’s two from the last two over the Saints,” Hadley said.

“That’s the kind of momentum we want going in to the grand final. We know we can beat them in good and bad weather and we can beat them at home and away.”

Although the Suns have the upper hand, Hadley said it certainly won’t be an easy match, particularly as Inverell sees the return of at least two players who were missing from the semis, including ruckman Jordan Sue-Fong, who won this year’s Rising Star award.

“Having him back will be an asset for the Saints,” she said.

“But we’ll have picked up a couple of guys who couldn’t play the semi, so hopefully that will negate the return of Jordan.”

At training this week, the Suns juniors have been working on hitting their marks, accuracy, timing and making sure their kicks go where they want them to. They also had a goal-kicking session on Saturday.

“They really need to maintain discipline to make sure they do what we’ve been focussing on in training,” Hadley said of the grand final game plan.

“They also need to stay confident and positive; it’s easy to let [the Saints] get ahead when you think you can’t claw it back. They need to keep that belief, they’ve done it before.

“I’m positive that if the guys can keep their intensity and discipline and self-belief, they can certainly win.”

Hadley said the boys have worked really hard all season and fully deserve this opportunity.

“It’s been a struggle at times and if we can get this win it’ll make everything worthwhile,” she said.

“Even if we don’t, they can be proud of everything they’ve done over the past year.”

The junior grand final will kick off at 10.15am at Varley Oval, Inverell.

Moree Suns juniors grand final team: