Nirranda reaches WDFNL grand final, inflicts Merrivale with first loss of season

The club, which coach Nick Couch describes as being "built to win premierships", is through to another Warrnambool and District league grand final, holding sway in an absorbing second semi-final to inflict Merrivale with its first loss of the season, 8.8 (56) to 4.7 (31).

It was the Blues at their relentless best, playing with the spirit that embodies the foundations of the club. It also moves them to within one win of back-to-back senior football premierships.

Proud, emotional and recognising the achievement of reaching the grand final, Couch told The Standard it was an excellent display from his group, which got the early jump and held sway for the majority of the afternoon.

"It was our best four-quarter performances for sure, I'm certainly proud of the boys, " he said.

"A focal point was our start to the game and we recognised we probably didn't start that well last week, we changed a few things up and got a few motivating people in before the game to razz the boys up.

"They were switched on. You could really feel the energy in the rooms (before the game), it was just a really good feeling and I'm pleased they came out swinging and got the job done."

Couch said it was vital his group shut down the Tigers' plethora of midfield guns, praising his team for executing the plans put in place.

"It means a lot, you take it for granted how many hours a coach puts in and you come up with a strategy to beat a side and when the guys switch on and do it from the start, you feel proud," he said.

"You never switch off as a coach, I've watched plenty of tapes, videos of Merrivale recently and you've just go to be confident you've done the work as a coach and the boys turned up and produced.

"We knew we had to nullify their one-wood and that was their midfield, we had to go to work. Manny (Sandow) going down early was unlucky for them but we still had to stick to the task, we didn't have our ruck as well and once we did that we were able to score.

"I'm happy with the result but there's a lot of water to go under the bridge."

The Blues had winners all over the ground with midfield ace Danny Craven shaking off an early injury scare to absolute star.

Key defender Mathew Lloyd's ability to intercept the play was vital in cutting off the ability for the Tigers to get the ball deep into opposition spearhead Dylan Weir, while skipper Reagan Nutting provided grunt and a layer of class rebounding the ball.

Ex-coach Brayden Harkness' composure was another feature while forward duo Dylan Lees and Jackson Couch combined for six goals and were nimble and energetic all day.

Couch said it was a good opportunity to soak up the moment but they would keep working hard ahead of the grand final to tinker a few areas.

"I definitely wanted a bit more free-flowing footy and to find a few more easy targets but we had to roll our sleeves up and do the work in the contest," he said.

"We'll look to move the ball a bit better (in the grand final), look to switch the footy and show our skills but I'll back the boys in."

Merrivale coach Josh Sobey lamented the ball use going inside forward 50 and said the group would review the loss and move on quickly.

"The first quarter certainly cost us in the end, there's a couple of things we'll assess and review heavily," he said. "Some numbers did stack up in our favour, we just couldn't execute going forward the way we liked, especially early. They were able to rebound a little better but the numbers we value were in our favour, we just didn't finish off.

"Credit to them. We'll get another crack at it in the prelim and get to work."

He added he was unsure of the severity of star ruckman Manny Sandow's calf injury.

"He was sore, we'll see how it pulls up, but we're hopeful he'll be fine," he said.

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