- THE LEADERS: One season, one decider: Tigers’ first-year leaders fired up for flag bid
- THE GAME-PLAN: Tigers gunning to make sure grand final is played on their terms
- THE STARS: Stars aligning: Tigers coach looking to veterans and rookies in decider showdown
- THE OPPOSITION: Bushrangers star goal-kicker hoping fifth time’s the charm in title bid
Nerves? Plenty.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Excitement? Absolutely.
Confidence? Definitely.
The 2017 Central West AFL season reaches its crescendo on Saturday afternoon and for many, the fact the Orange Tigers have managed to earn a grand final appearance is an achievement in itself.
The fact the side will host it too and enter as undeniable favourites, well, from where they’ve come from in the last 12 months it’s simply remarkable.
The Tigers finished sixth last year, missing the post-season, and then suffered somewhat of a player exodus after that as well.
For a club with a proud history, it hurt.
The disappointing campaign came after three flag wins in a row, so you can imagine just how pleased Tigers coach Dale Hunter – who played in all three wins before picking up the clipboard – is that the club has turned it around in under 12 months.
“It hasn’t been too long since we played in a grand final, but having that one year out of the finals system has a few of these guys really hungry to get back into it,” he said.
The Tigers face the Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws, a side that bounced its Rebels clubmates out of the preliminary final last weekend.
“They’re a classy side, I’m not really sure we ever really get on top of them,” Hunter said.
“First time we played them we went down to the tune of 10 goals and we reversed that the second time around so you probably can’t take too much from those results. One was away, we lost that, the other was at home and we won.
“So kudos to the boys for earning a home grand final, that helps.”
Hunter said the Tigers are confident, although he did try to play the underdog card despite being the first team to qualify for the decider. The side’s won its last six games straight too, including its major semi-final victory over the Rebels a fortnight ago.
“I still feel we are the underdogs, considering where we were at the start of the season and where we’ve come from last year as well,” Hunter said.
“We’re trying to play on that a little bit but obviously it’s always a two-horse race, the best team will win. We just need to do the little things right, not over complicate things.”
Although there’s just two stars who played in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 wins – Josh Bubnich and Simon Kay – left in the side, there’s still plenty of experience in the squad.
There’s eight players left from the 2015 flag-winning side, and the Tigers have picked up a number of handy recruits this year as well.
“We’ve got a lot of premiership players, no shortage of experience on the big stage. It is hard to get a read on some of the less experienced guys, a few appear nervous and some look calm even if they might be hiding those nerves,” Hunter said.
“It’s mainly excitement though I think, hopefully they can manage those nerves well on the weekend.”
“We had a light session on Thursday, just some skills and little bit of tactical stuff, the feeling was good,” Hunter said.