2022 WDFNL finals: Nirranda withstands heat to win grand final against Merrivale

In 2019 the Tigers upset the Blues by one goal in the Warrnambool and District league grand final but on Saturday the Blues triumphed 45-39 at Reid Oval.

Nirranda A grade coach Lisa Arundell - in her first year at the helm - was lost for words as her side finished with an unblemished record for the season.

"It feels fantastic there's no other way to describe it," Arundell said.

The Blues didn't have it all their own way, with the Tigers taking a small lead into the first change.

Nirranda turned it around in the second quarter to Arundell's delight.

"There were lots of nerves out there today with the girls, so it took a little while for them to settle and when they finally did we started to get into the game," she said.

"I was really happy with the way they handled it, Merrivale just kept coming at us every quarter.

"Massive credit to Merrivale because they just didn't stop and they kept pegging us back. My girls at least kept rising above that and rallied around and came away with the win."

Nirranda's Katie Ryan, playing in game 100 for the Blues, was named best-on-court for her heroics in defence.

Arundell said it was a "great honour" to finish the season undefeated.

"To go undefeated last year and not have finals, I think this series of finals was a good reckoning for them to finish that off properly."

Merrivale coach Elisha Sobey praised her players for their performances against the competition's benchmark outfit.

The Tigers' six-goal loss was the closest any team came to defeating the Blues. The previous closest was 17 goals.

"We're all very, very stoked and proud," she said.

"Being the underdogs probably took the pressure off us a little bit, we had nothing to lose.

"We stuck at it and we were never going to let them take it away easily. It was a good solid four quarters for both sides.

"I'm just so proud of our girls for hanging in there. They could have absolutely rolled us and they didn't."