Coro captain Haydn Pascoe help throw the monkey off his side’s back with a win in tomorrow’s first-grade grand final against serial conquerers Diggers.
Cricket
TWELVE months ago, the Coro Cougars were a picture of devastation.
The local cricketing powerhouse had lost an unloseable grand final to Diggers after a comeback widely regarded as one of the greatest ever seen in Griffith.
When Coro had wrapped up first-innings points halfway through day two, it seemed impossible that anyone other than them would be celebrating after stumps.
Indeed, it was a minor miracle that the match even went to a second innings, but Diggers captain Nathan Smith rolled the dice and the rest is history.
Now, the Cougars get their chance at redemption when they square off in a rematch for the Griffith District Cricket Association first-grade final, starting tomorrow at Exies No.1 Oval.
"We've been looking forward to this day for the last year," Coro captain Haydn Pascoe said.
"I personally didn't play in that grand final. But it felt like I did.
"It came down to the old saying, 'it's never over until it's over'. Anything can happen.
"A few boys in the side are keen to have another crack at them."
And the mind games have well and truly begun.
The Cougars have spoken for months of their burning desire to right the wrong of last year's grand final and the side will never get a better opportunity than this.
Coro has lost just one match all season across all forms of the game. It also managed to stave off the ghosts of last season with a win over Diggers in the Don 'Captain' Coleman Twenty20 shield decider last month.
That was one of two pieces of silverware the club has netted so far, with Coro poised for an unprecedented first grade treble if it can win again this weekend.
But talk of shattered hoodoos is premature for Smith, who believes last year's grand final loss has "haunted" the Cougars.
"It's their game to lose. We're the underdogs and we like that," he said.
"There's not much pressure on us. They beat us in the T20 but that's not even in the same class.
"We had a bit of fun in that but this is definitely the more serious and most important one.
"This would get the monkey off the back if they can beat us."
Pascoe, on the other hand, attempted to play down the significance of the match and of facing Diggers in a third straight first-grade decider.
"It didn't really worry me personally who we played. It's just another game really, a bit more at stake, but that's it," he said.
"It's about how the teams perform on the day. Every side can have a good day and a bad day, you've just got to produce.
"I wouldn't say we're favourites or whatnot, but all year we've been playing good cricket.
"We've got to take it into the grand final now as well."
Both sides take unchanged line-ups into the match, with the week off allowing Coro pair Glen Cox (calf) and Paul Plummer (sciatica) to return to full fitness.