As entertaining as the 2023 MGFNL season has been, the work of thirteen clubs has quickly been cut down to just six, four of whom will play this weekend and two, Newborough and Fish Creek, first and second respectively, who will clash the following week, in the Qualifying Final at Boolarra for the chance for direct entry to the Grand Final. This Saturdays Elimination Semi Final A at Mirboo North between the third placed MDU and the sixth placed Morwell East will be followed by the Sunday Elimination Semi Final B at Fish Creek to be fought out between the fourth positioned Thorpdale and fifth placed Foster
The winners of the The Elimination Finals, both A and B will then meet the following week in another do or die clash for the right to play the loser of the qualifying final between first and second in a preliminary final
Saturday Elimination final A @ Mirboo North.
MDU v Morwell East
As good as the home and away season has been, the finals promise a tantalising array of possibilities, with a realistic case to be made for each of the remaining six sides in the competition.
The Demons have been dancing around the top part of the ladder for most of the year, and seem to have what is required to be a real contender, but will this weekend need to suppress the enthusiasm and excitement of a young Morwell East team that can be hard to stop once they have momentum and confidence.
Nathan Allen, MDU coach “Looking forward to this week, we now know we have Morwell East out at Mirboo. They have been in really good form to finish off the year and have a lot of talent on their list. Going to be a lot of fun and hopefully we are good enough on the day to move on.”
The Hawks have been studying the possibilities of where they might finish for a month or so now and probably couldn't have expected any better than where they are, but make no mistake there is nothing wrong with where they are, as they are rewarded the same privileges as their third placed opponents this week and from there anything can happen.
Paul Henry, Morwell East coach “The season starts again! We will play Saturday against MDU at Mirboo North. We lost to MDU the first time round. Barring the result, it was a great game to watch. Finals are a time to rewrite the endings.”
The greatest and most memorable victories sometimes come from the most unlikely of places as Yinnar proved from sixth position in season 2022.
Sunday Elimination Final B @ Fish Creek..
Thorpdale v Foster
Football at any level has stories of many types, there are hard luck stories, inspirational, heartbreaking, successful and courageous moments, and all of them worthy of of being told, this weekend is no different with the third placed Blues earning an opportunity that might not have been thought possible just twelve months ago, and the fairytale for Thorpdale has no intention of stopping in week one of the MGFNL finals.
Jason Winderlich, Thorpdale coach “Our focus now turns to Foster. We feel they are one of the top three teams in the competition this year which is backed up by their percentage for the season. They play a good brand of footy and have hit good form again defeating Stony by nine goals who we rate highly. All we can do is head down south and give it a crack. Our players will do everything possible to get the win”
The Blue's success has happened by chance, the savvy recruiting of Winderlich to lead the club, the foundation for which recruiting, game style and self belief have all been built, and as good as all of that has been, make no mistake, it will be tested this weekend.
Sam Davies, Foster coach “We play the feel good story of the year in Thorpdale this weekend, Jason will be very well planned and have his elite mids ready to fire. We can’t wait!”
The excitement and at the same time nervousness for players and coaches is what finals create, the adrenaline of the occasion means that some players find another level, some don't and for coaches having their players mentally ready can be just as crucial as having them physically ready.
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