Nirranda's Reagan Nutting fit and firing ahead of WDFNL qualifying final against Panmure

But sheer willpower, a sustained winning culture and a belief in the system has driven Nirranda and its skipper into an position to defend its Warrnambool and District league senior football crown despite for the most part not fielding its best side all year due to key injuries and unavailability.

The Blues face their great rivals Panmure in a crunch qualifying final in Mortlake on Saturday, with the two great teams - who met in last year's grand final - set for another epic encounter.

They sit one win apiece in their clashes this season and seemingly every moment matters when the clubs take to the field to lock horns.

"There's always that bit of an extra rivalry between these country clubs as compared to Warrnambool town clubs and we've certainly built that rivalry in the last few years, particularly in finals," Nutting told The Standard ahead of Saturday afternoon's match.

"We're looking forward to it, it's always tough coming up against Panmure that's for sure, they're a great team."

Nutting - who took on the captaincy this season after playing a starring role in the 2022 premiership - missed almost two months with a torn meniscus, suffered after the round five match against South Rovers, a severe setback for the hard-nosed defender who encapsulates everything which makes the Blues a premiership threat.

He said it was a tough injury to overcome but like many of his teammates this season has worked diligently to get back to fitness and find form at the right time.

"I couldn't do much, I tried to come back and do some training sessions but I just couldn't run around much," he said.

"My fitness had certainly dropped off from that but before finals a few of us have been doing some extras in the lead-up to be ready for it.

"Personally I've had a bit of an off year, last year was a good year for me. It's been hard coming back from injury but my match fitness has picked up a bit that's for sure and I'm ready."

Despite the obstacles which have stood in the way of the Blues this season, the Nick Couch-coached outfit is well placed to hold the cup aloft again.

"It's a really good achievement from the boys (to finish second), we've been struck with injury for most of the year but I think at just the right time we've started to get a few back and back to their best," Nutting said.

"We'll just go out there and prepare the same as we do every week and do the best you can on the day I suppose.

"We just want to play our game plan, we've been working on it for a few years now. We've had injuries this year and blokes have had to play a few different positions but we've really clicked in the last month or so.

"With the side we've got we're confident we can beat anyone."

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: