IT'S called the A-grade grand final, but there will be a couple of words starting with B that will be spurring on Gisborne and Kangaroo Flat in the BFNL netball premiership decider at the QEO on Saturday. or signup to continue reading For the Bulldogs, they are back-to-back, and for Kangaroo Flat, belief. A highly-anticipated grand final showdown between the Bulldogs and Roos will be the clubs' first against each other since 2013.
If we get something even close to resembling that contest, then we are in for a big day. Gisborne won that one by a solitary goal, after surviving a spirited Kangaroo Flat comeback. The Bulldogs' only other A-grade flag, 10 years later, was also claimed in a one-goal thriller.
Seemingly little has separated the two powerhouses ever since that 2013 epic, with both having hovered around the top-three mark, along with Sandhurst, for most of that period, especially in the post-COVID era. But for a dominant five seasons from the Dragons, headlined by an unprecedented four consecutive premierships, it's always seemed the Bulldogs and Roos were destined to cross paths again on grand final day. That moment has arrived.
Gisborne will be aiming to cap a near-unblemished season, in which they have lost only one game - against Kangaroo Flat in round nine. The Roos will be looking to continue their late-season resurgence, recovering from a pair of losses to Gisborne in round 18 and Sandhurst in the first week of finals, to snare a grand final berth. An A-grade t.