Men's Grand Final Preview

Woodville Warriors (14-4) v West Adelaide Bearcats (11-7)

LAST WEEK
Woodville:
The Warriors had the week off, after defeating Norwood 86-72 in the Second Semi Final. Woollacott Medallist Alexander Starling was outstanding with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Woodville are hoping to become just the second Minor Premier in the last decade to go all the way in the postseason.

West:
The Bearcats won their third consecutive final. After a slow start, they gained control of the match in the third period and then held off the Flames 80-67. The Bearcats had five double-digit scorers, led by Tristan Braithwaite with 21 and Blake Truslove with 18. The ’Cats are the lowest ranked team to make the Grand Final in the last 10 years.

KEY STATISTICAL PERFORMERS (Finals)
Scorers:
Woodville: Alexander Starling 19.0 ppg; Claybrin McMath 18.0 ppg
West: Jason Dawson 19.7 ppg; Blake Truslove 19.3 ppg

Rebounders:
Woodville: Alexander Starling 18.0 rpg; Luke Stanbridge 11.0 rpg
West: Blake Truslove 12.7 rpg; Kurtis Phillips 9.7 rpg

Assisters:
Woodville: Cameron Wilson 10.0 apg; Adam Miller 4.0 apg
West: Jason Dawson 5.0 apg; Anthony Spadavecchia 3.3 apg

X-FACTOR
Woodville:
Darren Ng. Although Ng has been scoring less this season, his shooting percentages are up. The Warriors can be excused for some early jitters this week due to lack of experience on the big stage, but not Ng. Ng is a veteran of big finals and Grand Finals, almost leading the Sabres to victory in the 2012 Grand Final. His role is more important than ever this week, and if he makes a couple of early bombs, look out.

West:
Jason Dawson. When the Bearcats triumphed over the Warriors by 10 points in Round 5, Dawson shone with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Last time they met, the Warriors took him out of the game en route to an 80-60 win. Dawson had just 4 points and 5 rebounds, in what is his only single-figure scoring game to date. In summary – the Bearcats need Dawson to shoot and score well if they are to win.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Round 5: West 70 def Woodville 60 @ Port Adelaide
Round 14: Woodville 80 def West 60 @ St Clair

VERDICT
Something’s got to give. In recent times, a Minor Premier as Major Premier is almost as rare an occurrence as an Elimination Finalist going all the way. There does seem a bit of poetic justice surrounding this matchup – these two seemed destined to play in the 2013 Grand Final, but it did not end up that way. There is a saying that “you have to lose one before you can win one”, which certainly favours the Bearcats, but when the Warriors were at full strength, they demolished the Bearcats, and that is hard to overlook.




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