It’s hard to imagine that a team searching for its third consecutive premiership would be out for revenge, but that’s precisely the case for the Olympic Dam Devils ahead of Saturday’s W&DFL grand final.
Searching for their sixth flag from the past seven seasons, minor premier Olympic Dam were welcomed to the 2010 finals series with a severe thrashing; a disheartening 71 point loss at the hands of the Roxby Districts Miners.
The beauty of finishing top is the gift of a double chance, which Olympic Dam didn’t take for granted, toppling Andamooka by just five points in last weekend’s preliminary final.
Now, the Devils get another crack at Roxby Districts, except this time, there’s no second chances.
Olympic Dam coach Scott Peake said his side was confident of turning the 12-goal semi-final loss into another premiership this weekend. “We just took them a bit too lightly and that’s what came about of it,” he said.
Peake offered no cop out excuses for the loss, saying only that the players were “pretty disappointed with the way they went about things” and were ready to make amends on the big stage. However, if the two teams wanted to compare their reasons for seeking revenge, then Roxby Districts would win hands down.
All five of Olympic Dam’s premierships since 2004 have come at the expense of Roxby, who have had to settle for five sets of “runners-up” medallions.
Even in 2007, when neither team was handed the premiership cup, it was the Devils who spoiled Roxby’s season, knocking them out in the preliminary final.
While Roxby Districts coach Mark Dalgleish could not be contacted at time of print, league president Barry Mitchell made no secret as to his thoughts about the game.
“At this stage, Roxby would go into the game as favourites, but you can never underestimate Olympic Dam.”
Mitchell said he expected the two-time defending champions to bite back after their capitulation in the second semi-final.
That a team can still be feared, despite a 12-goal loss less than a fortnight ago, speaks volumes about the reputation that the Devils have earned during their run of premierships.
The general consensus is that they are the champs, so of course they can find a way. They will make it happen.
Either way, under the pressure of a grand final, the two teams will be likely to look to their proven stars to lead the way.
For Olympic Dam, the pressure will be on captain and 2009 Mail Medallist Daniel Rogers, who will be expected to provide this year’s leading goal kicker Scott Montgomerie with crisp delivery all day long.
Roxby Districts’ Jarrod Pyke, fresh off his win in this year’s Mail Medal, will need one more big effort from centre half back if he is to add a premiership medal to last week’s award.
The Miners have not been this close to a flag since well before the Olympic Dam dynasty began.
This week, they are expected to win. If they can handle that tag of expectation, then the game will be theirs to lose.
Olympic Dam is in a unique position. They are the champs, but are underdogs at the same time. They have the knowledge that they’ve been here before and won time and time again, but they will also be playing with the reckless abandon of a team with nothing to lose.
Saturday will tell us whether that’s a lethal recipe that propels them to a three-peat, or whether their time is up and there’s a new top dog in town.
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