For the Mariners Hockey Club senior men’s teams it will be mate against mate in Saturday’s Warrnambool and District Hockey Association grand final.
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It will be the first time in nine years that the club will have a side in the grand final.
Buccaneers forward Craig Gove and Pirates full back Jason McLeod said they were eager to battle for club supremacy.
“For us it’s about controlling the ball and just using your teammates and trying to get the ascendancy with the passing game,” McLeod said.
Gove said the side’s were polar opposites.
“The teams play a different style of hockey,” he said. “The Bucs are a very passing team and very tactic orientated and the Pirates are very attacking and skillful goal scoring team.”
The women’s grand final will also have friends playing together with midfielders Karen Benson (Sub Mariners) and Emily Abbott (Saints) lining up to claim glory.
Abbott said it would be hard for the pair, who train together on Wednesday nights, to get an edge on each other.
“I’d say its an advantage as you can be there for the pass or cut it off,” she said. “But it can also be a disadvantage to your own plays.”
Benson said she was going to find it hard playing against her friends.
The under 16 grand final will be fought out by Buccaneers and Technique.
For Buccaneers full back Hayden Giblin and Technique cente forward Dalton Barby it’s a tale of playing two halves.
For Giblin and his teammates it’s about finishing off the game strong as his side has a tendency to drop off and let teams back into the contest. Barby said his side must start and finish the game strong if they are a chance to claim victory.