Group 20
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HIS team hasn't lost all season, but West Wyalong reserve grade coach Jason Wheatley believes that perfect record will mean nothing if the Mallee Men stumble in the most important game of the year.
The Mallee Men battle Griffith Black and Whites in Sunday's grand final at EW Moore Oval and will start favourites for the clash.
While proud of West Wyalong's winning streak, Wheatley said his team didn't want to be remembered as the side that lost the only match that mattered.
"It's a lot of work to put in to come away with nothing at this point of the year," he said.
"It's something to look back on if you finish with an undefeated season, but a loss would be absolutely gutting."
Wheatley has his team on high alert for an ambush. EW Moore Oval is Black and Whites' home ground, and Wheatley expects the Griffith side to have plenty of support. "That's where they train and that's where they play. They wouldn't want to play anywhere else in the world," Wheatley said.
"But we also see it as a bit of a home ground as well.
"We've been going there for years and have played plenty of games there."
But even if West Wyalong was asked to play in a parking lot, Wheatley would back his team to prevail.
"We've had issues like every club this year with numbers, but the core 13 that have played most of the games this year could step up to first grade," he said.
"They've continually got us over the line.
"Sometimes we've played with 15 players and had one or two from the 18s step up, but we've always been able to pull off the win."
Black and Whites coach Rob Makepeace has similar confidence in his players and said they were match hardened after a tough run into the finals.
"They (West Wyalong) are going to be tough to beat, but we got within three points of them in the major semi," he said.
"The thing is that we've had five hard games in a row, whereas they've only had two games in about six weeks.
"It's a bit of an advantage for us."
Makepeace said he wasn't surprised Black and Whites had reached the grand final.
"We were always quietly confident we'd get this far," he said.