Bendigo Advertiser |
I’M sure there’s plenty of football followers in the community who will rub their eyes and blink twice at Elmore this Saturday when they see Huntly run onto the ground for the Heathcote District Football League grand final.
Quite rightly from where the Hawks have come from – claiming their 10th wooden spoon in a row only two years ago – they’ve garnered much of the attention leading into Saturday’s HDFL premiership decider against Lockington-Bamawm United.
The Hawks at long last get their day in the spotlight on Saturday and good luck to them, but the Cats’ effort in getting through to another grand final can’t go unrecognised.
Lockington-Bamawm United, which joined the HDFL in 2001 from the Bendigo Football League, is the epitome of what a good country football-netball club is all about.
The Cats are the heart of the farming community up Lockington and Bamawm way, and what a ride they’ve given their supporters in recent years.
Saturday will be the Cats’ fourth senior grand final in a row, with the club gunning for its third-consecutive premiership.
Any coach will tell you it’s hard enough to get into one grand final, let alone two, three, four, or in Bendigo Football League club Golden Square’s case, six in a row.
The Cats under outgoing coach Kahl Oliver are back in the big dance for the fourth year in a row and as hungry as ever to complete the premiership hat-trick.
Yes, clubs are judged primarily on the success of their senior football team, but if you look deeper into Lockington-Bamawm United, there's a strong underbelly filtering right through the Cats.
In total, since 2007 the Cats have captured 10 of a possible 18 football premierships.
The Cats’ reserves team is also in the grand final. They’re going for their fourth premiership in the past five years.
And then there’s the under-17 side, which is what makes the future of the club so exciting.
The Cats’ under-17s may have missed the finals this year, but between 2007 and 2011 they won five flags in a row in a remarkable junior dynasty.
The Cats have tremendous junior players coming through who will continue to prop the club up for years to come.
In total, since 2007 the Cats have captured 10 of a possible 18 football premierships, including all three on a memorable grand final day in 2011.
It’s a mighty effort by the club and one in which all involved at the Cats, plus the community, should be proud of.
As well as the senior and reserve football teams on Saturday, the Cats will also be represented in the A reserve, B grade, 17-under and 15-under netball grand finals.
That’s six of their nine teams playing off for premierships.
A phenomenal achievement by a club that seems to keep getting stronger every year.
