Bendigo Bank Cats coach Leigh Tudor last night revealed how the pain of last year’s grand final loss has fueled a burning desire for redemption in Sunday’s showdown with Coburg at MC Labour Park.
Tudor, who will lead the Cats into their second successive VFL grand final, said last year’s heartbreaking loss to Sandringham has emerged as powerful motivating force heading into this week’s premiership decider.
“The boys are pretty keen, they’ve been very keen the whole time to make amends for last year,” he said.
“But we’ve got a different group of players this year and the mix is really good – the VFL players and the AFL players have gelled really well this year and they really want to do well so we’re looking forward to Sunday.”
The Cats will start red-hot favorites to claim their second VFL flag on Sunday, but with many Richmond players still flying the flag for Tigers, Tudor believes the match is a lot closer on paper.
“We’ve been a little bit like Coburg this year – every week we go in with a different side – so I don’t take much into the favorites or underdog tags,” he said.
“When you’ve got your AFL list and your VFL side, you have different sides every week, so we’ve just got to bring our best footy to Sunday’s game.”
Tudor said Sam Hunt and Kane Tenace were strong chances to return, but must command selection after Friday’s final training session to be guaranteed a recall.
Both have missed a month of football through hamstring injuries.
“Sam Hunt and Kane Tenace are into their second week of full training so we’ll just see how they go,” Tudor said.
“We’ve got our last training session on Friday, so we’ll make our last decision after training.
“They’re progressing well, they’ve both put their hands up to play, so we’ll see how they get through and if they pull up well.”
Tudor said he expected the side’s young brigade to relish the grand final intensity and continue their impressive form from recent weeks.
“Young players (Nathan) Djerrkura, (Travis) Varcoe, (Simon) Hogan and (Ryan) Gamble have all been really important in the last few weeks, so we’d expect the whole 22 to bring their best game,” he said.
“It would be fantastic for them to win, there’s a lot of young players in the side and if they can start their years off Geelong in a VFL grand final win it would be a really good result for them.”
The Tigers will surge into Sunday’s grand final on the back of a scintillating second half against Williamstown, which propelled them from a likely preliminary finals exit to serious premiership contender in the space on an hour.
Tudor said the Tigers, who kicked an astounding 15 of the last 17 goals, proved their worth in an ominous second-half landslide.
“I thought they started a bit slow on the weekend, but once they got going, their good players started to get a bit more of the ball, and their VFL-listed players have been really good for them all year and they’ve continued to play well in the finals,” he said.
The Cats have beaten Coburg twice this year from two encounters, including a 31-point qualifying final victory two weeks ago, when the Cats crushed a tired Tigers outfit in the final quarter.
The action gets underway from 2.15pm on Sunday.
The match will be telecast live on ABC TV into Victoria from 2pm, with 95.5 K-Rock, 1116 SEN, 693 3AW, 774 ABC, 1611 Double X and Casey FM form all broadcasting the match live.
Admission is only $20 for adults, $15 for concession/pensioners, while children under 15 are FREE thanks to TRUenergy.
The Cats will conduct an open training session at MC Labour Park from 3.30pm tomorrow afternoon.
