Sunday’s clash between Shepparton and Rochester will decide who faces three-peat-hunting football Goliath Echuca in the grand final on September 22.
This weekend’s preliminary final will be held at Deakin Reserve on Sunday afternoon, with the two best pressure sides in the league ready to go toe-to-toe to keep their season and premiership aspirations alive.
After finishing in seventh last season, Shepparton has been a relentless scoring, physical and high-pressure beast in 2024.
The Bears have had several stars return from their 2018 premiership side, with ruckman Ash Holland, midfielders Luke Smith and Liam Duguid and forward Joel Brett elevating Shepparton back to being one of the most dangerous teams in Victorian country football again.
Shepparton has only lost two matches this season, both to Echuca, and its 18 victories have been by an average margin of 51.7 points.
The Bears are solid across the board, but Shepparton stands tallest through its pressure game and hybrid-fluid forward line.
Only one team in the Goulburn Valley League has multiple players in the top 10 goal-scorers this season, and that’s Shepparton with four: Trent Herbert (46), Brett (44), Lewis McShane (37) and Smith (37).
Even though the Bears’ two matches against the Tigers this season have resulted in 45- and 57-point victories, Shepparton player-coach Xavier Stevenson said his side would not expect a straightforward win on Sunday.
“We have a lot of respect for Rochester and we think they are a really good club,” Stevenson said.
“In both games that we have played them, there has been huge momentum swings.
“At Deakin, it was really close to half-time and then we kicked away in the second half and then it was pretty testing conditions in Rochester (second game) and we probably just made the most of that.
“By all means, we know this weekend will be red-hot and it will be a massive challenge for both teams.
“The last time we were in (a preliminary final) was 2018-19 and then before that was an even bigger spell, so the group knows what is up for grabs.”
Shepparton does have the option to play underage stars Jack and Matt Whitlock on Sunday, but Stevenson said that for now, it appeared unlikely the team would change too much.
“(The Whitlocks) would be great assets to have, but we have been pretty lucky that we have batted deep with our list, and at the moment, we have a healthy squad, which is fantastic,” he said.
“The only player missing outside of the Whitlocks is Joel Brett, who is obviously a really quality player.
“We will make a decision on whether or not he will play (Thursday night) at training.”
Rochester, too, has its own injury concerns, with star midfielder Mitch Trewhella suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter of last weekend’s semi-final loss to Echuca.
Tigers coach Ash Watson said his side would wait until after their final training session on Friday to decide whether Trewhella and several other key players would feature against the Bears.
“We are hoping (Trewhella) will be available,” Watson said.
“We have a few that we are still waiting on, ‘Dyl’ Gordon, we are hoping he will be available.
“Shaun Atley, we are hoping he will be and hoping Hamish Hooppell will be available also.”
After finishing 10th on the ladder last season, Rochester has launched like a rocket in 2024.
The Tigers’ trademark hunting and tackling have made them the league’s number one pressure side this season.
Using GVL Data, Rochester ranks first for its average-per-game pressure acts, effective tackles and midfield tackles per match, while the Tigers rank second for average-per-game forward-50 tackles and spoils.
Watson said he expected Sunday’s match to suit Rochester’s high-pressure game plan.
“(Shepparton) will go in favourites, but we are confident that if we bring our style, we will be able to get the job done,” he said.
“They are a high-pressure side and that is what we base our game around as well, and given it is finals footy, it will be even more like that.
“We know they are a quality side led well by their two coaches, Ted (Lindon) and ‘Stevo’.
“They play a good brand of footy and have some quality players.
“They like to get the ball on the outside and we as a team have to be able to stop that if we want to beat them.”
Sunday’s preliminary final will be held at Deakin Reserve at 2.30pm.
