Football
4 September, 2025
Bombers and Demons battle for premiership chance
With Harrow Balmoral securing a spot in the men’s seniors football grand final, Noradjuha Quantong and Laharum will fight in this Saturday’s preliminary final at Kaniva Recreation Reserve for the chance to meet the Southern Roos.
The two sides have had very different paths to the preliminary final.
Noradjuha Quantong dominated the home-and-away season to claim the minor premiership, and last week’s hard-fought 11-point defeat to Harrow Balmoral was just their second loss of the season.
Conversely, Laharum needed till round 18 to finish fourth and confirm their place in the finals.
But the Demons have impressed in both their elimination final and their semi-final, decisively beating Kaniva Leeor United 85-25 and Pimpinio 90-38.
Laharum coach Robbie Miller says the team will go into Saturday’s preliminary final full of confidence on the back of their recent form.
“I keep saying it: it is a great reward for the group and the club,” Miller said.
“A lot of hard work has gone into the success of this year – it doesn't just happen by chance or by luck.
“We'll focus on Noredjuha Quantong this week.
"They finished on top for a reason and they lost to another quality opposition in Harrow themselves.
“So we're full of confidence and I suppose we've got the title of nothing to lose now, and hopefully we can play with a bit of freedom.”
Damian Cameron, coach of Noradjuha Quantong, acknowledged there was plenty to take out of last week’s loss.
“I was happy with a lot of things but obviously a little bit unhappy with other things as well, but it probably gives us a bit of confidence knowing that we can match them (Harrow Balmoral),” Cameron said.
But the Bombers coach is focused on Laharum this Saturday, expecting a strong challenge from the Demons.
Despite having won both encounters in the regular season, Cameron and his team won’t underestimate Laharum, particularly considering their finals form.
“They're in great form,” Cameron said.
“A couple of 10-goal wins in finals is huge and that'll give them a great amount of confidence, and a team with confidence is that 10 per cent better than they were.
“So we're obviously not going to go in light-minded just because we beat him twice this year.
“We'll reset this week and get a couple of things to hopefully match up against them well.”
Noradjuha Quantong’s Wade Francis is under an injury cloud for Saturday, while Laharum will be without co-coach Shannon Argall and forward Brodie Mines after both suffered injuries in last week’s victory.
Although the Bombers will be favoured, Cameron says Laharum’s ability to finish strongly despite their injuries against Pimpinio demonstrates his opponents' resolve.
“They had their injuries before half-time on the weekend and they finished the game off really strong without those guys so that already gives them the confidence to trust in other players,” Cameron said.
“We'll look at other guys who we might need to and get the right matchups on them and go from there.”
Miller acknowledges the big task ahead for his side, knowing they will have to be at their best to combat Noradjuha Quantong and their numerous strengths.
“They've got a lot of weapons,” Miller said.
“We know they can move the ball quite quickly once they get into space but they've also got the ability to execute the shorter game: chip through good defences and then create overlap that way.
“We're going to be happy to be at our very best and we know our best is capable of competing with these sides.”
With both sides having two of the competition’s best midfield groups, the battle between each side’s forwards and backs will be critical.
Noradjuha Quantong have had the best defence in 2025 but youngsters Chase Whelan, Josh Hutshinson and Monty Wynne have been dynamic for the Demons in recent weeks.
Similarly, Laharum have limited each of their last three opponents to fewer than 40 points, but the connected Bombers pack that includes Judah Hobbs and Jye Walter have proven to be a force all year.