Behind the stumps: Resilient multi-sport athlete eyeing grand-final win

The Mortlake batter tore her meniscus during a Greater Western Victoria Rebels football practice match late in the 2022-23 campaign and missed out on playing the decider.

The 17-year-old returned to the side in round seven this year - after a challenging stint in the top grade - and has been a strong performer since, amassing 292 runs at an average of 26.55.

She is "looking forward" to Saturday's grand final against Melbourne after last year's heartbreak.

"It was hard not being on the field (last year) but knowing that we still won it was a pretty good feeling," she told The Standard.

"Geelong were nice enough to name me as the thirteenth man so I still got a medal and I was included in all the celebrations which was good."

Glossop said she was pleased with her contributions after not meeting her expectations the previous season.

She praised Warrnambool-based Cats mentor Steph Townsend, a star of the club's first XI who leads the club's south-west training group, for her influence.

"Having Steph Townsend as our coach makes it really enjoyable," she said.

"She makes it good fun. I was working yesterday with her and last week I worked with Stephen Field (club's head coach) with a few batting things I've been struggling with.

"She (Steph) is trying to get me in the right mindset and to not worry about things too much and only control what I can control."

Glossop is again a member of the Rebels' under 18 girl's squad for the upcoming Coates Talent League season after three games as an underage player last year.

The year 12 Mercy Regional College Student is doing her best to juggle Cricket, football and school commitments.

"Without school it (balancing cricket and football) would be easy," she said with a laugh.

"With school, I've got a lot of homework which is quite annoying but I think if I use my time well then it's pretty easy. Obviously you get some weeks that are harder than others but if you love it, you love it, so you've got to do it."

Glossop isn't the only Geelong seconds member from the south-west, with Aisha Hendriks (Hamilton), Maddie Green (Port Fairy) and Grace Potter (Dunkeld) all from the area.

Fletcher Cozens is hitting his straps at the right time of the year for Geelong in the premier men's second-grade competition.

The West Warrnambool export struck 94 for the Cats against Prahran on Saturday in the final match of the home-and-away season.

The opening batter has notched 377 runs in the second division this year at an average of 41.89, with 224 of them coming in his past five innings.

The Cats face Richmond in a quarter-final on Saturday.

No centuries were scored on the opening day of Warrnambool and District cricket's division two final- round clashes however there was plenty of reward for bowlers.

Noorat Terang's Sam Munro (6-29), Nirranda's Jake Dickinson (5-15), Merrivale's Jarrod Petherick (5-31) and Port Fairy's Niahl Dwyer 5-21 all snagged five-wicket hauls.

Nirranda opening bat Tyler Mungean came the closest to scoring a hundred, dismissed on 98.

Chamika Fernando (Brierly-Christ Church) 69; George McDonald (Port Fairy) 67; Alastair Templeton (Port Fairy) 66; Campbell Love (Brierly-Christ Church) 61; Rukshan Weerasinghe (Russells Creek) 98; Wil Hinkley (Nestles) 58; Will Ringin (Nestles) 56; Clinton Baker (Mortlake) 5-29; Joseph Douglas (West Warrnambool) 4-34; Damon Harrison (Wesley Yambuk Titans) 5-61; Brian Wilson (Wesley Yambuk Titans) 4-14.

Simon Baker (Bookaar) 139*; Luke Smith (Woorndoo) 82* and 2-20; Kaplan McCann (Cobden) 58*; Chris Vogels (Heytesbury Princetown) 70* and 1-8; Henry Moyle (Boorcan) 107; Lachlan Green (Bookaar) 60; Liam Loveday (Ecklin) 99*; Tim Fitzgerald (Bookaar) 3-39 and 33*; Jake Robbins (Heytesbury Princetown) 3-6 and 35; Nelson Loader (Woorndoo) 4-12; Matthew Harkin (Cobden) 4-20.