Tara Murray
Western Crusaders incredible run in the Gridiron Victoria competition continues with the side through to another Vic Bowl.
The Crusaders will be going for five straight titles when they take on the Croydon Rangers on Saturday.
Crusaders player and committee member Tyson Garnham said the club was looking forward to another opportunity to play off in the final game of the season.
“Hopefully it’s five in a row,” he said. “That’s the plan.
“Our two teams have now combined into one team for the finals and everyone played together which is good.”
The Crusaders won through to the Vic Bowl with a 50-0 win against the South Eastern Predators on Saturday.
Garnham said that they weren’t expecting a score line like that going into the game.
“It was a better result than what we expected,” he said. “We expected to win, but last time it was a really tough game.
“We did a lot of film and study and trialled a few things going into the match and it paid off.”
With a good margin at half time, the Crusaders looked to take advantage of the big bench they had to try and give everyone a go.
Garnham said it was good that everyone got their opportunity.
“We ramped up the rotations in the second half,” he said. “It was good that the second string players continued to drive the game and were scoring as well.”
Garnham said the concept of merging two teams, that both played in the same division during the regular season, for finals was one they had made work.
He said the group all worked well together whether they were playing as one team or two.
“We did it a couple of times during the year when there were byes and forfeits,” he said.
“We worked on the cohesion and worked together. Everyone trains together as well.”
The win sets up a rematch of last season’s Vic Bowl, with the Crusaders to face the Croydon Rangers. The Crusaders won last season’s decider 44-0.
The grand final is being played on Saturday at 3.30pm.
Garnham said they were hoping a big crowd would come down and support them. The game will be streamed on Kayo.
“It’s a rematch of last year’s Vic Bowl,” he said.
“We had two convincing wins during the season, but everything is different come finals.
“We’re not getting complacent and we’ll step it up in training during the week.
“Everyone is looking forward to it.”
