BY NATHAN DOLE
THE unbeaten cubs from Marong will take on East Loddon Rams in the Central Victorian Football League’s under-18s boys’ grand final on Saturday.
The match starts at 10.30am and kicks off a big day of grand final action at Inglewood’s Dissy Machinery Oval for players, officials and fans across the Loddon Valley.
Marong is chasing back-to-back premierships after winning last season’s Loddon Valley FNL under-18s premiership.
It’s been a brilliant run by the Panthers who won all 12 matches in the home-and-away series.
Marong went straight to the grand final after a 105-25 victory against the East Loddon Rams in the second semi-final at Gadsden Finance Serpentine Reserve.
Zac Conroy kicked six goals in that match and could cause plenty of trouble for East Loddon’s defence in the biggest game of the season.
Marong’s best in the second semi played two weeks ago were Riley Kerr, Kai Terrill, Hudson Bourke, Harry Mannix, Kepler Thomson and Zac Conroy.
The Panthers’ line-up includes Jett Bird, Byron Rogers, Kobe McCaig and Spencer Taylor.
The Rams bounced back from defeat in the second semi-final to score a 53-42 win against Inglewood in the preliminary final.
Mitchell Hancock and Mason Hocking kicked two goals apiece.
Best for East Loddon were Tom Harcourt, Tyler Rasmussen, Jaxon Addlem, Josh Diss, Cade Tuohey and Noah Ramskill.
The Rams’ squad includes Brandon Columbus, Joseph Ketterer, Jagger Thomas and Cyril Thomas-Tuaiti.
This season’s meetings between the Panthers and Rams all went Marong’s way by margins of 134, 59 and 49 points.
Although they go in as underdogs, East Loddon’s team knows not every unbeaten favourite has grabbed the premiership cup.