By Lauren Henry

Stawell fought its way to a preliminary final berth after grinding out an eight-point win over Nhill on Sunday.

The Warriors will face Southern Mallee Thunder at Murtoa on Sunday after the top team went down to Ararat in the second semi-final on Saturday.

The Rats earned the right to defend their 2023 premiership after a six-goal final term led to a 34-point win over the Thunder.

Ararat will need to wait until Sunday night to see who its grand final opponent will be.

After winning both matches against Stawell this season, by 23 points in round eight and 61 points in round 17, the Thunder enters the preliminary final as favourite.

But Stawell, with the club celebrating its 150th year this season and Tom Eckel in his final year as coach, will throw everything at it.

Although not the form side leading into finals, the Warriors were able to hang on and get the job done against Nhill at Coughlin Park, Horsham.

A good start by the Warriors saw them leading 19-2 at quarter time, but the margin was reduced to eight points at the main break.

“We finally had a good start of the game. I think we were mentally switched on when we contested the ball early. I think we did that. Pressure was pretty high, and we kept serving the ball forward and got some early goals, which I think was important,” Eckel told 3WM after the game.

“They’ve got good pressure, especially with that rain that came over towards the end. Those early goals that we got, I think were good. It was a good performance – we’re happy.”

Eckel acknowledged the Warriors were inaccurate in front of goal, particularly in the second term, kicking one goal and five behinds, but he said he was glad his side was getting the opportunities to go forward.

“We were getting enough inside 50s, so we knew if we just kept jamming it in now, it would come off at some stage,” he said.

“Yeah we missed a few, but some of those points came in handy towards the end.”

Ruckman Josh Fowkes, forward Cody Driscoll with three goals, and veteran Sean Mantell were key to the Warriors’ win.

For Nhill, Jarryd Dahlenburg, Deek Roberts and Jordan Zeitz led the way, and although the Tigers’ season is over, they have not lost any fans with their never-say-die attitude in 2024.

Eckel and the Warriors now turn their attention to this weekend’s preliminary final against the Thunder.

“We’ve shown we’re good enough to be in the top three, and we were able to bank those early wins,” he said.

“We’ve beaten Ararat before, they’re clearly the benchmark at the moment. Southern Mallee has had it over us this year, but you’ve just got to put yourself in a position – anything can happen on the day.
We probably haven’t been playing our best footy the last month, but anything can happen and we’re ready for it.”

The Thunder will also need to be ‘ready for it’.

Its last-quarter lapse against Ararat proved costly. The margin was just four points at three-quarter time making it anyone’s game.
But the Rats stepped up another level – and were able to hold the Thunder goalless while piling on six goals of their own.

Sonny Kettle, Matthew Spalding and Jack Ganley were instrumental in the win, but it was co-coach Tom Williamson’s six goals that were the difference.

Ararat simply has too much firepower up forward – if it’s not Williamson, it’s his coaching counterpart Tom Mills, who kicked six goals the week before in the qualifying final against Stawell.

It will be a big headache for whoever wins the preliminary final and earns a grand final berth on September 21 at Dimboola.

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