The film had a happy ending but it wasn’t your typical romantic comedy.

The leading ladies of the movie were the Lions players.

“We had a training session at Brauer ... and then had tea and watched a video of last Sunday’s game,” Rovers playing coach Kylie Carter said.

“We were just able to see a few little things that we did well and a few things we could be doing better.

“It wasn’t too serious, it was more light-hearted because we don’t want to get too carried away with new strategies at this time of the year.”

For Carter and three of her teammates, they are aiming to win today’s preliminary final to at least match last season, when they advanced to the grand final.

But the twist is they were playing for Merrivale in 2009, the side they face today.

“We haven’t focused on it too much,” Carter said of coming up against her former club.

“Probably the weirdest thing was when we played them in round two at Merrivale.

“They were still in the old uniforms so you had to make sure you didn’t pass to them.

“But the second time we played them it wasn’t an issue, mainly because they’ve only got two players from last year.”

The Lions are today out to prevent Merrivale from its fifth straight A grade grand final appearance.

Carter believed playing four consistent quarters was crucial for her side.

“We need four quarters of concentration because if your concentration falls away against good teams like Merrivale, they can easily score a couple of quick goals from it,” she said.

“We just need to keep our intensity up for the whole game.”

She believed last Sunday’s victory over Panmure in overtime highlighted her team’s ability to overcome pressure.

“It just made us dig a bit deeper,” she said. “Both teams were absolutely exhausted by the end but we fought it out.”

The winner at Reid Oval today will meet reigning premier East Warrnambool in the grand final. Action starts 1.50pm.