Cobden gets tick of approval from other HFNL club coaches

The Bombers were strongly backed by their neighbours in Camperdown's Brooke Richardson and Terang Mortlake's Lisa Arundell.

Richardson said conditions would play a part in the Bombers' quest for premiership glory.

"If it's a dry day their fitness and speed will stand out," she said.

"Their players and ball movement (are both quick). They are just a good side with good connections."

Arundell believes the midcourt will be the critical battleground.

"They (Cobden) are a fairly polished side and have benefited from the couple of years they have been together," she said.

"Koroit will be hard to beat without a doubt but it's how well they handle pressure.

"Both goalies are very polished and any sort of intercepts their defences can get are going to have a huge impact as there won't be many missed shots from those goalies, which brings the midcourt into play a lot."

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Portland's Lauren Hockley, Port Fairy's Rhiannon Cuomo, North Warrnambool Eagles' Jaime Barr and Warrnambool's Raewyn Poumako have also backed Mel Starr's side.

"I think they will be hungry after losing the one last year and their accuracy in the goals and court systems will stack up," Hockley said.

Barr said a number of factors would play a part.

"The weather may play into Koroit's hands with a bit of rain expected but Cobden has several answers for (star goalie) Nell (Mitchell) in the circle," she said.

"I'm tipping a really close one but if Cobden's shooters can get on song early they will be hard to beat."

Former South Warrnambool coach Mandy van Rooy backed Koroit's class to stand up on the way to a hat-trick of open netball flags.

"Koroit has the experience behind them," she said.

"Cobden have had a fantastic season, and I would not be surprised if they win it, but Koroit have experience and have timed their run well and seem to be playing good netball."

Hamilton Kangaroos leader Kelsey Lewis gave reasons for why both are capable of winning it.

"If Koroit can play a solid four-quarter game and really stick with Cobden I think that will leave them in a really good position and make for a very close game," she said.

"But if Cobden start to get in control and get in front I think they could take a bit of beating.

"I'm hoping it's a close game, could definitely come down to a goalies game though... and especially coming up against such good defensive pressure."

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