The Wimmera hockey season will culminate on the turf at the Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre on Saturday, with three eagerly anticipated grand finals to decide the premierships.
The Yanac Hockey Club has set itself up for a crack at winning the trifecta, all three grand finals in the same season, for the fourth time, while teams from Warracknabeal, Kaniva, and Nhill will attempt to spoil the party.
- Open – Yanac Tigers v Warrack Hoops
Head-to-head this season
Round 2 @ Warrack - Tigers 1 defeated Hoops 0
Round 6 @ Dimboola - Hoops 1 drew with Tigers 1
Round 11 @ Yanac - Tigers 1 defeated Hoops 0
Semi-Final @ Warrack – Tigers 3 defeated Hoops 0 When you look at the Yanac Tigers’ record in finals across the thirty-three seasons contested in this division since 1982, you find some impressive numbers. They have contested twenty-nine grand finals for twenty premierships, and they are currently on a streak of seven consecutive grand final wins.
More significantly, for their prospects of adding to these numbers on Saturday, they have played fifty-five matches since their last loss in September 2019.
In contrast, the Warrack Hoops record shows twenty grand finals, with seventeen of those being against the Tigers, from which they have won five titles, the next best behind the Tigers.
Regardless of respective ladder positions, or whether it is a regular season game or a grand final, games between these two are rarely decided by more than a couple of goals either way, and the recent form of both suggests that this trend will continue. They both play a style of game well suited to the artificial surface at Dimboola, which will contribute to this being a top-quality display of hockey.
The Tigers recent record confirms that they go in as favourites, but when playing at their best, the Hoops are capable of matching them.
- Women – Yanac v Kaniva
Head-to-head this season
Round 1 @ Dimboola - Yanac 1 defeated Kaniva 0
Round 7 @ Yanac - Kaniva 1 defeated Yanac 0
Round 12 @ Kaniva - Kaniva 1 drew with Yanac 1
Semi-Final @ Warrack – Yanac 2 defeated Kaniva 1 While the rivalry between Yanac and Kaniva is not as historic as that between the Tigers and Hoops, it is no less competitive.
Yanac has been one of the leading teams for some time now, having played in twenty-one grand finals since their first one nearly fifty years ago in 1976, and while Kaniva spent many years towards the bottom of the ladder, this will be their third grand final appearance in as many seasons, showing that they are now one of the form teams of the competition.
Last year was the only time that these two have met in a grand final, which Yanac won in a shootout, but as not more than one goal has separated them in their four meetings so far this season, the indication is that this will be another competitive game that could go either way.
- Under 16 - Yanac Warriors v Nhill Leopards
Head-to-head this season -
Round 4 @ Nhill - Warriors 5 defeated Leopards 3
Round 8 @ Dimboola - Leopards 0 drew with Warriors 0
Round14 @ Yanac - Warriors 1 defeated Leopards 0 With the constant turnover of players in a junior team as they reach the maximum age, rivalries in junior competitions are not as historic as in senior competitions, but that does not mean that any group of players will have less incentive to leave their mark in the history books.
As many of the players in the Yanac Warriors and Nhill Leopards attend school together, there is still plenty of rivalry and a hunger to claim bragging rights in this game.
The Yanac Warriors go into this game undefeated since early last season, and although the Leopards have only won ten of their seventeen games this year, their form has improved significantly over recent weeks, which will give the Warriors cause to be wary.
The Yanac team has earned the right to go into this encounter as favourites, but with nothing to lose, the Leopards have the players to make it a great game.
The season will conclude on Saturday evening with the annual awards presentation function, to be held in the hall at the Dimboola Memorial Secondary College, where not only will the leading players for the season will be acknowledged, but the Wimmera Hockey Association will be celebrating fifty years since its formation in 1974.
Wimmera Hockey Association – Grand Finals
Saturday 14th September, 2024
Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre, hosted by the Horsham Hockey Club
| 11 am | -Under 16 | - Yanac Warriors | v. Nhill Leopards
| | 1 pm | - Open | - Yanac Tigers | v. Warrack Hoops
| | 3 pm | - Women | - Yanac Women | v. Kaniva Women
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