Sport
11 July, 2026
Full fitness push: charting path to the finals
WHEN North Central sport resumes on Saturday after the season’s final league-wide bye, teams face a seven-match unbroken run to the finals.
WHEN North Central sport resumes on Saturday after the season’s final league-wide bye, teams face a seven-match unbroken run to the finals.
A stop-start season that has seen only one stretch of three weeks’ play in succession now requires teams to play more than double that, with finals to follow for some.
It’s a run that will test playing depth and provide very different challenges for those at the top and those chasing a finals’ berth.
Take Wedderburn, which is unbeaten on top of both the senior football and A Grade netball ladders.
For Redbacks football coach Tom Metherell, the opportunity to rest players in the weeks approaching finals is a bonus.
A little niggle, a bit of hamstring awareness - a player can be given a break to ensure fill fitness when it really counts.
“In the position we are in now we can afford to rest blokes when needed instead of having to play them all the time,” Metherell said.
“If you have a niggle, we will not risk anyone, which is a good position to be in.”
Such a luxury isn’t available to St Arnaud co-coach Harley Durward, who said his team was ‘hell-bent’ on making the finals, and knew they weren’t in a position to rest players.
The Saints are fifth, just half a game behind Birchip Watchem, with Durward rueing a couple of early big losses against Sea Lake Nandaly and Calder United.
“At the end of the day, teams like Wedderburn made their mark early in the season and can give players a break,” he said.
“If we could do the same, we certainly would.”
Boort coach Andrew Rutley’s team, with a 3-6 record, can’t afford any slip ups if it is to make the top four.
He has to pick his best available team every week and ask his best players to fight through any minor issues, even at the risk of them becoming major problems.
More experienced players might welcome the frequent byes built into the fixture, but younger players tended to thrive on continuity.
“I think the stop-start is a little bit frustrating - it’s certainly hard to get momentum,”Rutley said. “The older guys definitely like a bit of time to rest the body up, but this time of year we really need to put the foot down at training.”
The seven-game stretch will test everyone, but what about the teams that finish in third or fourth spot?
If a side was to reach the grand final from there, it would have to play 10 weeks in a row, testing fitness and the depth of the playing list.
It’s a challenge that would potentially face teams such as the Saints and Magpies, which are at this stage battling with Birchip Watchem for fourth place.
In A Grade netball Wedderburn - undefeated for two seasons - has enviable depth, with its B Grade team also on top the ladder, two games clear of second-placed Donald.
Given the senior squad talent available to coach Meg Lowry, the Redbacks can give players a break without compromising the A Grade team’s standards.
But the team will have a week off in round 14 next month when Wedderburn was meant to play St Arnaud, which has withdrawn from A Grade this year, so there is not as much need to rest players.
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