Higher on the beat, and they know it’s their time to go.

The words of that classic Dave Rodgers eurobeat tune feel like they ring especially true in looking ahead to the Goulburn Valley League A-grade grand final this Sunday, with particular regard to Euroa.

For the Magpies, the search has indeed been a mystery.

A year ago now was the day the Magpies came up just short on the big stage, falling to Echuca 35-31 in a tight-fisted affair which saw the Murray Bombers take out the top prize in both sports at Deakin Reserve.

The outlook is good for another clear Sunday afternoon in Shepparton to serve up a picturesque treat as Euroa now gets set for another crack at the powers-that-be in green this weekend.

Of course, there was a breakthrough earlier this year when the Magpies overpowered Echuca in the Goulburn Valley’s south-east in a commanding 49-30 result during round four.

Though Euroa could not get the chocolates on the biggest occasion, neither of its two top vote-getters in Monday’s best-and-fairest count — fifth-placed Olivia Morris or sixth-placed Hollie Reid — were at the club in action that day.

Having finally broken through to defeat the league’s sturdiest defence, beating Mooroopna in last weekend’s preliminary final at the third time of asking, there may not be an obstacle that a full-strength Magpie offence cannot overcome.

Coach Ellie Warnock believes the groundwork has been solidly laid down for a premiership 41 years in the making.

“The ultimate goal has been to make a grand final once again and allow ourselves the opportunity to make up for what we couldn’t achieve last year,” Warnock said.

“With the additions of Hollie and Liv, our team has only grown stronger as they are incredible players.

“My expectations throughout the year have simply been to just work together as a team and find our flow and trust within each other, then success will follow.

“We’ve been working really hard on what we can improve on regarding gelling better as a team this finals series, and I feel we definitely achieved that last week.”

Of course, there have been setbacks along the way during the regular season, and even dropping the qualifying final to the Cats.

Warnock is more than confident the squad will come out firing on all cylinders come Sunday afternoon, a picture of seamless cohesion.

“Some of the games we lost this season, we have walked away feeling as though we had not been beaten by the other team, but instead we’ve felt we had beaten ourselves,” Warnock said.

“After reviewing our Mooroopna game (in finals week one), it was very obvious to me that we win enough ball, it just came down to the decisions we made that didn’t allow us to capitalise.

“We’ve worked a lot on patience and choosing the easy option, not forcing the ball in unnecessarily.

“If we stick to that Sunday, hopefully the result goes our way.”

By that token, words of composure and calm in the wild grand final atmosphere will be at the forefront when the girls are lining up on the court.

“Patience is the key. Don’t rush, don’t force,” Warnock said.

“We’ve learnt the hard way that premierships don’t come easy.

“If we stick to our game plan and continue to work as a team, I trust the girls can bridge the long premiership gap.”

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Thursday, 1st August 2024

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