Both Laurimar and Mernda have put together outstanding campaigns and are fittingly the two teams who will battle it out in the 2023 Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 premiership this weekend.
Life has been tough for Demon fans in recent years. In both 2018 and 2019, Mernda fell out of the top four in the very last round of the season and following, that came the restrictions of 2020 and 2021 before a sixth-place finish in 2022.
But the junior program is strong at the club and both the reserves and under-19.5s sides reached their respective Grand Finals in 2022. This year, it was the senior side’s turn to step up/
A few handy recruits, headlined by star Billy Morrison, entered the scene and while youngsters relished regular senior football after gaining experience throughout last year. The Demons began with back-to-back wins over the two sides most considered to be the front runners for the flag in Old Eltham Collegians and Laurimar.
That form was franked during the season, and they eventually finished atop the table for the first time since 1997.
After a highly competitive effort in their second semi-final loss to the Power, Mernda was too good for the Turtles in the preliminary final last weekend.
While the Demons have waited almost 11 years to make another decider, Laurimar fans can cast their minds back twelve months to their first ever Grand Final experience.
Their coach Jimmy Atkins used the word “redemption” while addressing his players in the second semi-final, a match which saw his team able to withstand a fierce comeback from the Demons and prevail by 11 points.
Unlike their Saturday opponents, Laurimar has been a regular top two finisher in recent completed seasons and have played in the last three second semi-finals.
The 2019 campaign saw them exit the finals in straight sets, albeit losing both finals by under two goals while last season, the Power won their first ever finals match with a 26-point triumph over South Morang, propelling them straight into the Grand Final. But the Lions won were too strong a fortnight later in a 15-point victory on the final day.
The club will be determined for a different ending this time around.
Both sides have talented youngsters. Mernda teenagers Joel Harris and Kai Turner have had great seasons, while others have stepped up well in the senior side including Dayne Kellett, Jayden Bell, Jesse Guelfo and Nathan Baccega.
This quartet of players are all 22 years old or younger and are part of a crop developing well under coach Robert Fletcher. Their form is a big reason why the Demons have risen from sixth last season to contenders this year.
Given reasonable supply, the Mernda forwards in Bryce Kimuliatis, Daniel Smith and William Crouch can be extremely productive and have combined for 95 goals this season.
All eyes will no doubt be on the ruck duels, with Billy Morrison up against Laurimar duo Aidan Clarke and Josh Leather in what looks to be a premiership deciding battle.
The Power also has a plethora of young talent. Noah Mooney, Joel Lawson, Kaiden Arthur and Ethan Bateman have excelled in 2023 and were instrumental in their team heading to another Grand Final.
In the middle, co-captains Mitch Thompson and Luke Wilson will be aiming to lead a winning centre square group and give plenty of supply to Jascon Cecil and a swathe of other dangerous forwards in the form of Mooney, Joel Lawson and Micah Vecchio.
These teams were the highest scoring sides in the competition this season and were the only finalists to average over 100 points per game.
Given this fact, the midfield battle will be vital in determining the outcome. There will be plenty of heat in the centre square as each team’s tough and talented players go at it.
If the second semi-final is anything to go by, fans will be in for a great afternoon of football and like South Morang before them, whichever team triumphs looks well placed to be highly competitive in the higher grade.
