Flag hopefuls gear up for Wimmera Football League finals

Of the flag hopefuls set to do battle, only the Horsham Saints have won a premiership in the past decade.

Standing in the Saints' way is elimination final opponents Stawell, who is hoping to take one step closer to ending a 19-year premiership drought with a win at Beulah on Sunday.

Warriors coach Damian Joiner said his charges were ready for the contest.

"We're really excited. The time has finally come and everyone is up and about and ready to go," he said.

"We've got such a young group that there's actually a few boys playing their first open age final ever. So there's a few that are pretty excited to get going and see what finals footy is about."

The Warriors have beaten the Saints both times they've met this season, most recently by 25 points in round 15.

Joiner said that despite their success in the reverse fixtures, finals football would be a different challenge.

"You can take that (confidence) in, but as I said, it's always different. Different players come in," he said.

"You sort of block out the season wins now. It's a whole new ball game when you get to the finals, so everyone just starts at zero in my eyes now."

Horsham Saints coach Luke Fisher said his team was determined to correct the record.

"Obviously it's a bit of a challenge for us. We've only not beaten them (Stawell) and Minyip-Murtoa," he said.

"It will be a bit of a mental battle for us to be able to get up because I think they've had us pretty comfortably both times. but that's OK. Finals footy is different. That means nothing now."

The Saints' finals preparation was hampered by a final-round 20-point loss against Dimboola.

"We should be fine. We did have a few senior players out which doesn't help when you rely on everyone doing their role," Fisher said.

"When you've got lots of inexperienced kids and you're challenged it can be hard.

"We'll reshape and go again and won't look at last week again at all...It's just about getting the balance.

"Those young kids bring the enthusiasm and speed and those other guys bring the experience and the class and the stronger bodies."

With the GWV Rebels' season coming to the end there is the chance young stars Nick Caris and Gage Wright will feature heavily in the Saints' flag hunt.

"There's a possibility of having all those (Rebels) guys back, it depends on what they want to do with their footy...we'd possibly have them available."

Ararat and the Southern Mallee Giants will look to go one stop closer to the grand final with a victory in Saturday's qualifying final.

Honours have been shared in the two games played this season, with the Giants sneaking home by 18-points in round 15.

Coach Coleman Schache said the two sides would enter evenly matched.

"I'm expecting a tight contest. Ararat has got a lot of good runners in their team and I like to think we do as well," he said.

"It'll be a tight, contested game of footy and I'm looking forward to it."

The Giants have had a unique preparation, coming off the bye in the final round.

"Everyone's feeling fresh. We had a bit of a solid hit-out on the weekend to keep a bit of a rhythm," Schache said.

"There were a few sore bodies after the last game we played, so it was good to get those boys right and give them a chance to get up and get them raring to go for this weekend."

Ararat vice-captain Corey Taylor said his side was up for the contest.

"We're really excited. We were lucky enough to finish second on the ladder so we earned ourselves a double chance, and everyone's really keen for the weekend," he said.

"They're a really good team; we've beaten them once this year and they've beaten us once this year. We're a really evenly matched team so it should be a really good contest on Saturday."

Taylor said the Rats weren't changing anything heading into the big game.

"We're just keeping everything normal - we're just treating it as another game," he said. "Obviously there's a few little things we need to work on but overall training is the same."

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