The Lucindale footy club heads into Saturday’s KNTFL A-grade grand final against Mundulla on a 10-game winning streak and
It’s going to be one huge night in Lucindale on Saturday, when the town not only plays host to Triple J’s One Night Stand, but has its A-grade footballers and netballers playing in grand finals.
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About three months ago, a couple of members of the Lucindale Football Club were invited to join the local planning committee for radio station Triple J’s One Night Stand.
The much-loved One Night Stand had just announced it was coming to town, bringing with it top bands — including the juggernaut Hilltop Hoods — for one night of music and fun, swelling Lucindale’s population from a few hundred to thousands.
Those footy club members looked at each other and asked just one question: “Can we change the date?”
September 14, 2019: grand final day in the Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League; a big day for the state’s southeast.
When Triple J replied with a flat: “No”, those same club members looked at each other again and shrugged their shoulders: “Well, we won’t make it to the grand final anyway”.
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At the time, the Lucindale Roos’ A-grade football team had just lost its fourth game of the season, and its second consecutively, and had some of its most important players out injured.
It would take a miracle to make the grand final from here.
But 10 weeks — and 10 straight wins — later and the Roos will contest the KNTFL grand final against Mundulla at Penola on Saturday.
Lucindale president Aaron Smart said the buzz in the town was immense, particularly given the club’s A-grade netballers had also made the grand final.
The Roos finished the season second on the ladder with 12 wins — one behind minor premiers Mundulla — and the side boasts not only the 2019 Mail Medal winner in Scott Spriggs, but also the runner-up in Ryan McInerney who is the side’s playing coach.
Also running around for them is former Port Adelaide player Tom Logan, whom Smart describes as a fantastic member of their team.
“He’s a great leader on and off the field and is very good at passing on his football experience to the younger lads,” he said.
But preparing for the big game has been complicated thanks to the Hilltop Hoods coming to town: for the past week, the oval that the Roos train on has been transformed into a makeshift campsite, where more than 5000 people will pitch their tents come Saturday night. It’s also a blanket dry zone.
“So we haven’t been able to train on our oval this week,” Smart said.
“But the Naracoorte Football Club has let us train on theirs instead.”
Smart, said that “win, lose or draw” the team and their supporters would return to Lucindale from Penola for a private after-party at the local bowling club to celebrate their successful 2019 season.
The sides met just twice this season, with Mundulla ‘Moots’ triumphing by 17 points in Round 3 before Lucindale turned the tables with an upset win in the second semi-final at Frances by 11 points.
Smart coached the Roos to the 2005 flag which ended a 35-year premiership drought. Since then have won a further two premierships in 2011 and 2017 — in an upset against Mundulla — while the A-grade netballers are on a roll and were going for their third-straight grand final win in a row.
Mundulla broke a 14-year premiership drought last year after a golden era that delivered seven premierships on the trot and nine flags in 11 years between 1994 and 2004.