Russells Creek to end Warrnambool and District league A grade finals drought

The playing mentor has all but ruled herself out of their Warrnambool and District league elimination final against Old Collegians on Sunday.

She is battling a knee injury which has restricted her output in 2018.

Robertson, 25, has played A grade for Russells Creek since she was 14.

The Kangaroos have not played finals for “about 15 years”.

“I am coming back from an ACL injury. I don’t know if it’s a full tear or a partial tear yet,” she said.

“I had a follow up MRI today actually so I will find out Monday what the go is.

“Hopefully no surgery, that would be the best outcome.”

Robertson said she was unlikely to hit the court against the Warriors but would wait and see.

“I don’t think I will play this weekend. I am not quite 100 per cent,” she said.

“I have played the last couple of weeks, just trying to qualify myself in case we did make finals, but I don’t think I am up to the calibre of being 100 per cent.”

But Robertson said it was “really exciting” to see the Kangaroos back in premiership calculations.

They had a round 18 bye and faced a nervous wait with South Rovers a chance to dislodge them in fifth spot.

The Lions lost, much to the Kangaroos’ relief.

“A couple (of our players) went to South Rovers versus Timboon and a couple of us went and watched Old Collegians play Kolora-Noorat,” Robertson said.

“We were on the app the whole time just getting updates on what was happening.

“Most of the girls haven’t played finals since they were juniors. It is just really good for us to have all of our senior grades in finals this year, it’s just really exciting for the whole club.”

Robertson said it was important Russells Creek kept its emotions in check ahead of the cut-throat final.

“We have to make sure we keep ourselves level-headed,” she said.

“We know what to expect from them. We know they’re a well put together team and quite strong coached by Meagan (Forth), so we have to make sure we go out there, stick to our own game plan and remain calm.

“We’ve had patches where our defence has been really good and our attacking has been really good but the last month or so it’s been a more full-court, consistent team effort which has been really exciting.”

Teenager Micaela Eccles, who has moved from goal keeper into goal defence, said she was ready for the challenge.

“Everything is just different in finals because it throws just a whole new dynamic in to the mix,” she said.

“It will just be fun. It’s a fun team and it’s my first year in A grade. It was good having a different coach to what I have had other years and it’s a good group of girls, so you can’t really complain at all.”

Sarah Robertson, 23, said she was excited to play in goals but was wary of the region’s temperamental weather.

“Personally (my season) has been up and down,” she said.

“As a goalie, you always have your ups and your downs and wind conditions change a lot, so it will be interesting to see what this weekend bring with a home game and the conditions we get.”

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