The Dogs coach was spoiled for choice with her playing stocks in 2017, taking up the reins of a team that was a mix of those she’d led to the 2015 flag and those who’d saluted with Katie Burt at the helm in 2016.

“I think people see that as a lovely position to be in, but in many ways it created a lot of headaches,” Fleming said.

“You’ve got nine clearly very good players and you’re trying to maintain and make sure you’ve got equal court time and you’ve got that many things (to balance).”

The Dogs may be seasoned grand finalists, but Fleming said their experience told them not to take anything for granted on the biggest day of the year.

Dennington had to fight tooth and nail to advance to the second semi-final against Nirranda, overcoming a slow start against Kolora-Noorat in the first week to force the match into extra time, eventually prevailing.

After two poor starts in a row, the Dogs responded emphatically against the Blues, doubling the minor premiers’ score in the first quarter en route to a comfortable win.

The Dogs are expected to have a full list available for the final, with Marlee Convey benefitting from an extra week’s rest to get a persistent knee problem in check.

Nirranda coach Steph Townsend was confident her charges have addressed any areas of concern from their loss to the Dogs a fortnight ago.

The Blues were rusty coming off a bye in the first week of finals, but responded with a heartening win over Timboon Demons in the preliminary final.

“Leading up to the game (against Dennington) I thought we were probably a bit underdone in terms of game fitness,” Townsend said.

“I thought we did really well against Timboon last week. We’ve got everyone in, which is very handy.”

Townsend is an experienced grand finalist, having gone all the way through to the A grade decider on three occasions with her former club Old Collegians.

But for Nirranda, it’s been a long time between drinks on netball’s grandest stage.

“It’s been 17 years since the A grade team has made a grand final,” Townsend said.

“It’s exciting thinking that we’re creating a slice of history regardless of what happens.”