MARONG must clear the obstacle from Inglewood this Saturday to reach another Bendigo Bank Loddon Valley FNL senior footy grand final.
The Panthers and Blues will meet in the preliminary final at Calivil Recreation Reserve from 2.15pm.
A run at a fourth consecutive premiership for Marong hit a hurdle last Saturday when Bridgewater beat the Panthers in the second semi-final by eight points.
A day later and Inglewood’s giant-killing run rolled on as the Blues beat Pyramid Hill in the first semi-final by seven goals.
The Kain Robins and Paul Thomson-coached Marong will be wary of an opponent which is on a seven-game winning streak.
The Panthers beat the Blues when they met in the home-and-away series.
Marong kicked off the season with a 68-61 victory in round one at Inglewood’s Centre State Scaffolding Oval.
In round 10 the Panthers marked a 93-66 victory on their turf at Jackal Oval in Marong’s Malone Park.
Winner of Saturday’s match will face Bridgewater in the September 6 grand final at Deepcore Drilling Riverside Oval in Newbridge.
A key to Inglewood’s chances of beating the Panthers will be a high level of defensive pressure and capitalising on scoring chances.
The Fergus Payne-coached Blues have done so brilliantly in the previous two finals.
Inglewood is up against an opponent stacked with multiple premiership winners.
The Marong line-up includes captain Nathan Devanny, Michael Bradbury, Ben and Corey Gregg, David Johnstone, Richard Tibbett and Matt Willox.
A first-year player at Marong, Shannon Geary moved to the den after a long and successful stint with Strathfieldsaye Storm.
Key players for Inglewood include Seb Erharter, Kai Cavallaro and Liam Marciano in attack, ruckman Tom Kennedy, Cody Stobaus and Keelan Payne.
The Blues also have the run and skill of Bregon Cotchett, Harry Veitch and Jackson Hood.
Leadership from Nathan Angelino and Daniel Polack as Inglewood chases a hat-trick of finals wins and its first senior premiership since 1986.
The reserves preliminary final on Saturday features Bridgewater against Bears-Lagoon Serpentine from 12.30pm.
Bridgewater is on the rebound from a seven-goal loss to Marong in the second semi-final.
The Bears stayed in the cup race when they won the first semi against Inglewood by 20 points.
Round one of the ’25 campaign featured a 76-22 win for Bridgewater at home against the Bears.
The round 10 clash at Gadsden Finance Serpentine Reserve went the way of the Mean Machine by 64 points.
Bridgewater’s team for Saturday includes Jake Higgins, Mychael Baker, Charlton Hindle, Zane Hoiles, James and Toby Naughton, Alex Pollock and Jackson Wild.
The Bears’ line-up includes Jayden and Steve Gladman, Orion Downing, Clay Anstee, Miggy Podosky, Zach Stone, Kalem Paxton and David Tineo.
Preliminary final day kicks off with the under-18s match between Marong and Inglewood.
The Marong Panthers are on the rebound from a 15-point loss to Maiden Gully YCW in the second semi-final.
Inglewood marked a 67-58 win against East Loddon in the first semi.
In round one, Inglewood beat the Blues, 60-57 at Centre State Scaffolding Oval.
The Panthers claimed a 90-62 win against the Blues in round 10 at Jackal Oval in Malone Park, and then the 14th round clash in Serpentine by 75 points.
Best for Marong in the second semi were Wilhelm Thompson, Cooper Quinlan, Harry Roberts and Caleb Dudderidge.
The Panthers’ squad includes Brodie Hale, Riley Kleehammer, Deqlan Radford and Jimmy Taylor.
Best in the Blues latest win were Kyle McClellan, Tyler Murphy, Willem Schepers and Evan McCoy.
Cooper Hackett, Tate Lovett, Jamie Penrose and Tyson Thompson will all be keen to play their part to ensure Inglewood’s run does not end on Saturday.