Football
7 August, 2025
Contest for last finals spot heats up
Despite sitting sixth in a final-five race to the end of the season, it isn't panic stations for Dimboola yet, according to co-coach Andrew Moore.
But every game is crucial as Dimboola fight for a berth in the finals in the Wimmera Football Netball League.
And that includes this week's match against Stawell.
"All we need to do is control what we can control," Moore said.
"That's playing the best footy we possibly can over the next three rounds.
"We need to go out there and try to win, and that's all we can control.
"We can't control any other results that happen in the competition so we will put our best foot forward and see what happens."
Moore added his side was excited for the challenge, though, and looking forward to seeing what happened.
Dimboola are on equal points with Minyip Murtoa but in sixth on percentage and one game behind the Thunder, who are fourth.
After a bye last week, Dimboola will play Stawell this Saturday before rounding out the season with games against the Eagles (August 16) and the Thunder (August 23).
Their competition for that final place in the finals, Minyip Murtoa, play the Horsham Saints this Saturday and then Nhill and the Demons to finish the regular season.
Last time Dimboola and Stawell met it was a close game, with Dimboola going down by just four points.
Despite holding a nine-point lead going into the last quarter, the Warriors overran the Dimboola side.
Still, you can guarantee their co-coaches in Moore and Dean Toet will be instilling what they can in their side to avoid a repeat of history this Saturday.
"We need to win as many games as possible, and these next three rounds, we pretty much need to win all three of them," Moore said.
"That starts this week against Stawell, and it isn't going to be easy as they are playing some pretty consistent footy – it's going to be a big challenge."
Acknowledging the brilliant start his side had against Stawell last time they lined up against each other, Moore said although he would love to start the same way again, he couldn't see that happening.
He did admit, though, that Dimboola could take some confidence out of the way they played them last time, along with a lot of learning, particularly concerning the final quarter.
"The biggest thing for us is trying to reduce the impact of their strengths," Moore said.
"It's a lot of their inside grunt, and they're good at contested footy, especially around stoppages.
"They also have some talent up forward as well.
"It's never going to be easy against quality like Stawell but we can see we can match up well; we just need to be consistent across the four quarters."
Likewise, James Sullivan, coach of Stawell, acknowledged the challenge awaiting his side this Saturday.
"We don't take any game lightly and we know what Dimboola are capable of – they obviously jumped us in the first game and had a handy lead at half-time last time," Sullivan said.
"We know what their strengths are and trying to stop their strengths is what we will have to look at.
"We are expecting a big day.
"There will be a big crowd down at Central Park as it's Super Saturday for the Warriors this week, so it's going to be a great day and hopefully we can come away with the four points."
Sullivan predicted the battle would be in the middle, adding his side were aware of how strong Dimboola were in that area.
"They have some really top-end talent in there and they obviously dominated that aspect in the first half earlier this year," he said.
"But we were able to get that back on our terms a little bit in the second half and get back on top.
"I expect it to be a massive battle in the midfield on Saturday and we are going to be putting a big focus on that this week."