Terang Mortlake twins Damian and Maria Moloney, 17, will contest grand finals today.
TERANG Mortlake twins Damian and Maria Moloney are hoping premierships come in pairs today.
Damian will play for the Bloods’ under 18 side as it seeks to avenge its 2011 grand final loss to Warrnambool, while Maria will line up in her first grand final when the club’s 17 and under netballers play North Warrnambool Eagles.
Maria said it would be a busy day for the Moloney family, with the two games coinciding.
The under 18 football decider starts at 10am and the 17 and under netball is scheduled for 10.30am.
“It will clash but hopefully one of us is up by heaps so the family can go and watch the other,” Maria said.
The two junior sides are Terang Mortlake’s only representatives on Hampden league grand final day.
Both teams survived cut-throat elimination finals in week one and have built momentum.
“We played South Warrnambool in the preliminary final and did a really good job and Damian played against South in the prelim too,” Maria said.
“Our girls had just finished and we went crazy like we’d won the grand final.
“We had just calmed down and then found out the under 18 boys had won, so we were shouting again.”
The Moloney twins are in year 11 at Emmanuel College.
They started at Panmure, playing under 12 football together.
They then parted ways, with Damian joining Emmanuel Hawks and Maria signing up to play netball with Terang Mortlake.
Damian played under 14s and under 16s with the Hawks before joining his sister at the Bloods last year.
He has been runner-up in the Hampden league best-and-fairest four times, including this season, despite playing only 11 under 18 home-and-away games as he tested himself at senior level.
He said his season was hampered by injury.
A back injury he sustained in the 2011 grand final loss needs to be managed, while a neck injury saw him go to hospital and miss two matches.
The midfielder said minor premier Warrnambool would go into the grand final as favourite.
“We need to get a really good start and run them off their legs,” he said.
Damian, who is still eligible for under 18s next season, said Terang Mortlake’s 2011 loss would spur the Bloods on, while coming from fifth would make it even more memorable.
“It is a pretty good effort. We did it last year as well against Warrnambool but lost by a point,” he said.
“We started off pretty badly and worked our way in but couldn’t come from behind.”
