Nirranda coach carefully plotting Blues' WDFNL finals campaign

The Blues have the week off after finishing first on the Warrnambool and District league table.

Alvie, also a top-ranked A grade side, hasn't lost a match this season.

Coach Steph Townsend said former Nirranda player, Jess Quick, was playing for Alvie and they had talked about the potential for a game.

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No matter what, the Blues will be training on Saturday.

"I'll be adding an extra training session on Saturday morning," Townsend said.

Nirranda ran away with a 46-34 victory over Timboon Demons on the weekend.

Dees coach Leah Sinnott was pleased with the performance ahead of her team's elimination final against Old Collegians.

"I was really happy with what we put out there today," she said.

"Obviously the outcome of the game didn't have an impact apart from us showing Nirranda we could push them."

Sinnott said her side would stick to the same game plan for the final.

"It's making strong connections across the court in attack and defensively applying pressure in each aspect of the court," she said.

Dennington will welcome back star midcourter Alyssa Johnstone for its qualifying final with Merrivale on Saturday.

Coach Josie Bolden said Johnstone missed the Dogs 59-21 win over Allansford due to university commitments.

Johnstone has plenty of finals experience, helping the Dogs to flags in 2016 and 2017.

Bolden said her Dogs were in good shape ahead of the first week of finals.

"We're all in good stead and ready to go," she said.

The Dogs will face a Merrivale outfit coming off a 34-23 victory over Kolora-Noorat.

Tigers skipper Nicole Ferguson said her side was pleased to secure second-spot.

"We definitely wanted that double-chance because finals are definitely a different game so having a double-chance really helps going forward," she said.

Ferguson said the Tigers want to bring effort and intensity to their finals campaign.

"Definitely intensity all over the court, four consistent quarters and we want that passion for the ball," she said.

Meanwhile, Old Collegians took the chance to sharpen up ahead of its elimination final with Timboon Demons.

Co-coach Meagan Forth, who said her team was playing with a positive mindset, was pleased with the 47-35 win over Russells Creek.

"We tried a few different combinations," she said.

"We were trying different people through the midcourt."

Vanessa McLaren, usually a wing attack, got thrown into the centre for half the game.

Forth said she had used the past few rounds to get her side right for finals.

"The last few weeks we've ironed out a few problems," she said.

"We're hitting our straps at the right time."

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