ADCA 2024-25: Railways chasing dream return to finals while Mt Barker out to win third flag in five seasons

Mt Barker will chase more premiership success and aim to deny Railways a fairytale return to finals action when the pair clash in the Albany and Districts Cricket Association A-grade grand final on Saturday. The Bulls are into a fifth straight decider, having won titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23 while losing to Royals in 2020-21 and last season. The Tigers won seven straight A-grade titles in a golden era that began in 2013-14 but they have not played finals in the past four seasons. However with an injection of youth the Tigers have climbed back up the standings, remarkably finishing on top and qualifying directly into the grand final despite the top-three teams finishing on equal points this season. The Tigers’ last title came in 2019-20, when they won the qualifying final and then were awarded the premiership after COVID-19 forced the grand final to be abandoned. As one of only a few remaining premiership players, Tigers skipper Coen Marwick said his new-look squad deserved their crack at flag success. “We are super excited really, it’s been a long four or five years,” he said. “To return this way in a grand final is exciting for the club and we are happy to be back. “If you look at the season as a whole, until Royals lost a couple at the end we had all beaten each other and everyone’s best cricket is good enough. “I’m confident we can play our best cricket and if we do that we are a red-hot shot to win it. “It would be a really special (flag) this one for the club after the last few years.” The Tigers will have to make a change from their winning round 20 team with Oswin D’Sylva returning to play finals in Perth and unavailable. Young all-rounder Lachlan Tindale is his likely replacement while Marwick said Mitch T’Hart and Sam Slater are others in the mix. The Tigers have lost all three one-day fixtures to their grand final opponents this season and Marwick believes the Bulls are firmly the side to beat. “They are a really good side, probably the best in the competition since Christmas,” Marwick said. “We have a plan and we’ve executed that pretty well, especially with the ball all year. “They have a deep batting line-up so early wickets is the key with the ball and they have good opening bowlers in Jeremy (Wood) and Mitch (Jackson). “We will play the game our way, be positive and take it on.” The Bulls will go into the grand final unchanged from their preliminary final win over the Lions last week. Bulls skipper Jeremy Wood was confident his side had the talent to topple the Tigers again, but said the side who settles the best will be winning. “At the start of the year we set ourselves a goal to get into the three,” he said. “Now we are heading into a grandy. “Anything can happen in these big days and the team who settles the quickest will win. “We’ve got the tools to win it … we are good enough if we turn up on the day. “We are all getting a bit older, the opportunity to win flags won’t be there all the time. “You can be a dominant side or have a dominant era but it’s important to have the legacy of winning flags.” The addition of Mitch Jackson has been huge for the Bulls, taking 14 wickets in seven games while their middle order has found form with the bat led by Wood and Ryan Gaerth. “Gardy (Jarrad Gardner) and Gaerthy (Ryan Gaerth) have been important for us, especially bowling those middle overs,” Wood said. “There are other blokes that can step up, Seth Davis and Lucas Baker, they are the young guys and the future for us. “Saturday won’t be easy, Railways have played some good cricket and have good players. “Joe (Stanley) has had a great year again and has run through a lot of teams so he’s obviously a factor and with the bat they have Coen (Marwick) and Devon (Jefferis) as well so we will have to be on to win.” The A-grade decider will start at 11.30am on Saturday at Turf North. ALBANY AND DISTRICTS CRICKET ASSOCIATION GRAND FINALS Saturday Under-14s - Heat v Mt Barker at Turf South, 7.45am Under-12s - Stars v Mt Barker at Hard North, 8.30am A-Grade - Railways v Mt Barker at Turf North, 11.30am B-Grade - Manypeaks v Denmark at Turf East, noon C-Grade - Collingwood Park v Manypeaks at Hard North, 12.30pm Sunday Under-17s - Collingwood Park v Manypeaks at Turf North, 11am