Wanderers guaranteed a place in finals

On Tuesday, Castlemaine Green who were the only team that could have replaced the Wanderers in the top four, forfeited their match this Saturday away against Swan Hill.

Wanderer’s goalkeeper Matt Crothers said having finals solidified will slightly change the Deniliquin side’s game plan against sixth placed Castlemaine Gold this Sunday.

The Deni side will be on the road for the game, which starts at 3pm.

“Last time we played them there we beat them 5-3,” Crothers said.

“We’re hoping we win, but we don’t need to so we’ll try a few things.

“In the first half we’ll try to use the team we plan to start in finals, and then use the opportunity to try things out.

“In the second half we’ll mix it up.

“There’s a few who might want to go forward and a couple that might want to try keep.

“Masen (Brain) has suggested we draw positions out of a hat, but we’ll have a bit of fun.

“Castlemaine are also a pretty friendly club, so it should be good.”

The Wanderers will have one eye on their first finals match, which will be a local rivalry semi-final against minor premiers Echuca-Moama Border Raiders.

“Everyone’s pretty excited, although it has been a little more subdued as we have all been expecting it.

“We have been using the last few weeks to learn how to handle Moama and Swan Hill.

“A lot of the results this season have been really close - within a few goals.

“Talking to Moama coach Adrian Richardson, he said they’d noticed we’ve improved a bit, and they are starting to be a bit concerned.

“We’re not out of the match, even though we might be underdogs on paper.

“Hopefully, we get no injuries and no cards this weekend as both could rule someone out of a final.”