Stung by their semi-final loss to Rumbalara the week before, the Cats were ruthless as they cut down the Eagles 23.7 (145) to 8.6 (54).

“On the previous week’s performance we knew we had to lift,” Finley coach Damian Sexton said.

“We thought we were better than that performance so we had a fair bit of pressure on ourselves.

“We knew Echuca was a very one-on-one contested footy team, and we knew it was going to be a huge challenge.”

The Cats were the quickest off the mark, taking a 14-point lead into the first break.

The Eagles fought hard in the second term but after the half-time break it was mostly one-way traffic.

Sexton said the Cats were harder to the ball which gave them more opportunities to score.

“When you play Echuca you’ve got to respect your opponent,” he said.

“You don’t give them any room and back yourself — when you’re harder at it than them that’s when you give your forwards chances.”

The Cats’ forwards took those chances and rarely looked like missing in front of goal.

Jess Koopman led the way with six goals, while Tom Seccull bagged four for the Cats.

“Jess is a small forward and when you’ve got a couple of really good talls smart small forwards can feed off them,” Sexton said.

“That’s his job and he played his role well.

“But it’s more so the blokes up the ground who make it happen.”

Michael Littlejohn was named the Cats’ best, while Ryan Prendergast was best for the Eagles.

“It’s a relief to be in the grand final but the job starts again now,” Sexton said.