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Three's a crowd

05 Mar, 2010 10:04 AM
YOU don't have to be a genius to figure out the Griffith and District finals make up this season - but it would help.

After an incredible 19 weeks of action the contenders for the one-day final this Sunday and the top four teams to face off for the longer premiership are still to be decided.

While Hanwood have secured their third straight spot in the one-day final, their opponent for the big game won't be known until 6pm tomorrow when Exies or Coro have gotten over the line in their respective games.

Either way, Hanwood skipper Jason Bertacco said his side is armed with a game plan for both prospective opponents and said he did not mind which went through.

"We know it's either going to be Coro or Exies and we've played them many times over the last few years so it'll just depend on how we perform on the day," Bertacco said.

Bertacco has made some changes to the side for Sunday's final, saying several B grade players have been rewarded for their form, however, Brendan Hicken is under an injury cloud heading into the game.

Hicken, who has been in top form for Hanwood this season, tweaked a previously injured knee during the Twenty20 tournament last month and said he will still take to the field despite the niggling injury.

"It is (a little bit serious) but we're still very hopeful he'll play, it's a final so he doesn't want to miss it, we've given him the last couple of weeks off and he won't play Saturday either," Bertacco said.

"Graham Male came into the side just before Christmas and he's really got a good combination going with Brad (Hornery) at the top of the order and that's one of the key points to our game."

For Exies captain Brent Harrison a spot in the shorter final would be seen as a bonus, given he has set his side to claim another two-day crown.

"Our finals start this Saturday really, we played in the one-day final a couple of years ago where we lost to Hanwood, but we're just worrying about this Saturday first (against Leagues Club)," Harrison said.

Derek Forner is a notable omission from tomorrow's line-up due to personal commitments, but Harrison has plenty of faith that Tom Burge will be able to fill the gap and set a good total for his side's strong bowling attack to defend.

"If they keep bowling the way they have the majority of the year then they'll be pretty hard to score off, because they've all been outstanding," he said.

"He (Burge) is a quality cricketer and when he came back from school he's made himself a permanent player and he's been number three since Jamie (Winkler) got inured but he'll open this week."

The third major piece of the finals puzzle this weekend are Coro, who will be looking to make the most of their rain-reduced two-day clash against the Yenda Jets.

If Coro win at Wade Park tomorrow they will face Hanwood the following day for the one-day crown, however, they are also playing for their two-day finals aspirations with Yenda able to leapfrog the Cougars into fourth spot.

"It will be a bit of an advantage playing the shorter two-day game, I think it works out to be 42 overs each on Saturday, but we need to get over the line against Yenda first," Tim Rand said.

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