The Kangaroos stormed into the Hampden league A grade grand final on Saturday — their winless 2013 wooden spoon season a distant memory.

Their 46-43 preliminary win at Reid Oval ended North Warrnambool Eagles’ stake for back-to-back premierships.

Hamilton Kangaroos will play minor premier Koroit in the decider next weekend.

Roos coach Sara Byrne said her side’s achievement was testament to its dedication and hunger.

“I am trying to let it all sink in,” she said of leading the club to its first A grade grand final.

“I think (the feeling) was disbelief. Just ‘oh my god’ we’ve made a grand final in our second year.

“I think they wanted it; the girls really wanted it, which was great to see.

“To have our A grade and A1 in there I think is absolutely fantastic, especially from where we came from last year.

“I think it proves that the girls have got the capabilities around the region and, as they say, success always breeds success so you can only hope that if a team does have success that it can bring even more people to the club.

“I can’t be prouder of them. They’ve not only put in a great pre-season but a great season. It’s honestly the best feeling.”

Hamilton Kangaroos led at every change: up by two at quarter-time, four at half-time and six at the main break.

Byrne praised the Roos for their ability to make the most of second-chance rebounds. 

They grabbed 14 rebounds after 19 missed shots.

“We led for the whole game and I think we won it just through our pressure and our defensive end took some really timely intercepts,” she said.

“We were six up in the last quarter and then made a couple of silly passing errors and panicked a little bit and they were able to capitalise.

“We had to try and stop the flow.”

Ally Feely played in centre opposed to Eagles jet Maddie Smedts.

Smedts, who was given until the morning of the game to prove her fitness, played the entire game after overcoming a hamstring complaint.

“She (Feely) needed to make sure she pushed Maddie because we always knew that Maddie would play,” Byrne said.

“You have to be really severely injured before you miss a final.

“And I have to be honest, Ally Feely is suffering from a light case of shin splints so I think to run the game out like she did against Maddie was fantastic.

“I thought Renae Beks absolutely killed it at wing attack and Rhianne Lewis was just brilliant at goal keeper.”

Hamilton Kangaroos will have a light week at training as they prepare for the decider.

“They’re not playing basketball this week. They’re not allowed to,” Byrne joked.

North Warrnambool Eagles coach Sharon Kenna said it was a disappointing finish to an up-and-down season.

She admitted the Eagles’ journey was bumpier than their premiership year when “everything fell into place”.

Kenna lamented injuries to Smedts and defender Indi Morrison in the latter stages of the season and a work placement which robbed captain Laura Blackburn of leading the team at training during the finals.

But the premiership mentor said Hamilton Kangaroos deserved to progress after beating her side twice in three weeks.

“They played another very solid game and we played catch up again,” she said.

“There were three or four times when we had opportunities to get back within two and get the centre pass but we couldn’t do it.

“They were so persistent and they managed to get it back.

“I had faint hope but they played well enough to hang on in the end.

“But credit to my girls for fighting back too.”

Kenna made multiple changes in the third term, most notably taking goal keeper Rachael Ryan off for a period, in a bid to swing the momentum.

But it didn’t work and the Eagles made the most of an injury time out and brought Ryan back on to her customary post, which gave them momentum entering the final break.

Kenna said she would hand over the coaching reins next season, confident the Eagles were well placed to make another flag assault.

“I have done three years now and I think it’s probably time to get a new coach in,” she said.

“Sometimes you need a fresh voice out there and fresh ideas.

“I am really happy I hung around and gave it another year.

“It’s probably a bit bittersweet (way to finish) because I feel we had a really good side and could have gone on and won it again.

“It is hard to go back-to-back so the teams that do go back-to-back are obviously very good teams.”