GREENVALE v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS
Saturday 2:25pm at Sewell Reserve
🎥 Streamer
📻 98.9 North West FM
Another chapter will be added to the short rivalry between Greenvale and Burnside Heights in the Airport Toyota Women’s Division One grand final.
It’s only been the past two years that these sides have faced each other, but it has become one of the stronger rivalries in the competition.
The Bears were the only team to beat the Jets in the regular season last year before having one foot in a grand final in the semi final.
A goal in the dying seconds from Talia Motta put the Jets into a second straight grand final, while the Bears were then knocked out in straight sets.
Not many people would have been surprised to see the two teams at the top again this time.
This year it was the Bears that lost just once during the regular season, and it was the Jets causing the upset.
The Jets then stunned the Bears in the semi final to win through to a third straight grand final.
Burnside Heights joined them a week later with a win in the prelim to win through to its second women’s grand final.
Looking at the statistics, the Bears have been the clear best team all season.
They finished 10 points clear on top of the ladder and scored almost 200 more points than the Jets.
Kayla Ravanello, Bella Negri, and Holly McGregor finished second, third, and fourth respectively in the leading goal kicking and they had five players in the top 10.
The Bears need to make the most of their shots on goal, having been wasteful at times throughout the season.
Defensively, they conceded just under 12 points per game.
Only three times they've conceded three or more goals in a game and all three games have been against the Jets.
In the middle of the ground, they have the best player in the division in Krissy Trang, who has again driven the standards.
Five players from the 2018 grand final team played in the side's preliminary final win, among them some of the Bears biggest names.
Like the Bears, the Jets have a strong core group in the middle of the ground.
They build their game around them and then have options going forward, headed by leading goal kicker Alisa Magri.
Magri hasn’t had the impact she would have liked in the past two grand finals kicking the only Jets goal in 2022 and not kicking one last season.
If Magri, who has won the leading goalkicker the last three seasons, can get on top then the Jets are hard to stop.
The group brings the experience of heartbreak to the match as well.
Thirteen players from last season’s grand final loss played in the semi final, while seven players from that semi final have featured in both grand finals.
Coach Troy Newton said they would look to approach the grand final differently this year after the past two and not getting the result they were after.
Last year illness ran through the club in the lead up to the grand final which didn’t help things against the red hot Essendon Doutta Stars.
Newton said players would miss out this time round with the list good to go.
For the Bears, the loss in the semi final was a wake up call.
It was the first time they had been beaten like that this season and didn’t have the answers when needed.
Bears coach Michael Davis said he thought the group was in a better mindset than 12 months ago, which showed in the preliminary final.
All the matches this season have been leading to this grand final clash, which doesn’t come as a surprise to many.
The key for the match isn’t likely to be the stars of each side.
We know what Ravenello, the Stevens sisters, Trang, Terira Fry, Haylea Cooke, and Magri can deliver week in, week out.
The match will be decided by that next group of players and who can step up in the big moments.
Which side’s bottom players will show something when most needed?
Whether it’s taking on a shut down role, laying a tackle at the right time, or kicking a crucial goal, it could be the difference.
