YARRAWONGA co-coach Chris Kennedy is adamant the Pigeons haven’t been scarred by last Saturday’s humiliation at the hands of Albury and is confident they’ll bounce back in Sunday’s preliminary final against Lavington.
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The reigning premier was belted by 63 points in the second semi-final at John Foord Oval and must now dust itself off for another clash with the Panthers.
Kennedy, who is about to end as Yarrawonga’s most successful coach, drew comparisons to last season ahead of the Albury Sportsground clash.
The Pigeons lost to Albury by 47 points in the final round before turning things around in September.
The Pigeons thrashed Lavington by 64 points the following week in the qualifying final before charging to the premiership with successive wins over the Tigers.
“There’s a lot of deja vu from last year,” Kennedy said.
“That’s exactly how it feels.
“Everyone was saying the same thing that we were too slow and couldn’t win and that Lavi had our measure.
“We were very disappointed with our efforts last weekend, but this group is very focused.
“A lot didn’t go right on the weekend.”
The Pigeons look set to swing at least a couple of changes for the sudden-death contest.
Marcus Cummins, Brady Pritchard and Damon Symes were included on a six-man bench last night, with Michael Handby and Ricky Barnes likely to be the under the most pressure to hold their spot.
Lavington selected AFL hopeful Brydan Hodgson and livewire Myles Aalbers.
Aalbers has battled ankle troubles for most of the season, but his match-winning qualities look to have proved too hard for the Panthers to overlook.
In more good news, pocket rocket Jay Banks has been picked to play reserves after breaking his leg little more than a month ago.
He looks certain to play in the grand final, should Lavington win on Sunday and Banks gets through the reserves game unscathed.
Lavington coach James Saker said he wasn’t reading anything into Albury’s demolition job and said he wasn’t expecting the Pigeons to fade into finals oblivion after its most successful era in history.
“I think they’ll be as hard to beat as ever,” Saker said.
“They are a really experienced and professional team.
“I wouldn’t be reading anything into last week.
“Albury used the ball really well, which is something we haven’t done against Yarrawonga.
“We’ve played them twice in four weeks and have learnt a lot in that time, which will hold us in really good stead.”
Both clubs will pick their final 21s for the game later today.
