MENS: AUSTRAL PHOENIX VS NORWOOD BEARS

8 August 2024

This weekend League Men's Austral Phoenix and Norwood Bears will go head to head to secure their chance at taking home the Championship title!
Saturday 10th August 2024, at the Lights Community and Sports Centre: 244-270 East Pkwy, LIGHTSVIEW SA 5085.

AUSTRAL PHOENIX VS NORWOOD BEARS
Action from 6:00PM

We have been lucky enough to hear from both teams leading into to an exciting match!

AUSTRAL PHOENIX:

Harrison Paay: President and player of Austral Phoenix

When asked about how the team is feeling heading into the GF, Austral's President, Harrison, said,

"I’ve had to reach out to our Club founder, Ray Harris, on this one, such is the dry spell we’ve seen. The men's team haven’t played in a State League Grand Final in nearly four decades and we’re yet to win a championship either, so you can imagine how big this weekend is for the Club. Our Women's team on the other hand, did manage to claim back-to-back State League flags in the early 80s and made a more recent appearance in the Grand Final in 2015.

We’re all incredibly excited and focused heading into the Grand Final. While there are some players who’ve achieved success with other clubs, many of us are yet to feature in the big dance. We have worked tirelessly all season, and the vibe around the team is extremely high. We’re ready to leave it all out there.

Our training this week will be centered around doing what we have done all year – getting the basics right and making subtle adjustments to our game plan to counter Norwood's strengths. We'll need to execute our plan effectively while also being prepared to adapt to their style of play.

To get the win on Saturday, we'll need to replicate what has brought us success throughout the season. Consistent service pressure will be crucial, and I think we play our best volleyball when we are able to spread the ball around and utilise all attacking options to keep Norwood's defence guessing.

Ryan Scutter has been a standout performer all season, and his consistent offensive will be as important as always. The form of our two young guys, Charlie Disbury and Rory Hart, has been excellent this year and is continuing to build, and I’m sure they will be great contributors this weekend."

NORWOOD BEARS:

Regan Fathers: Norwood Bears League player

When asked about how the team are feeling after securing their spot in the grand final, League player, Fathers, said,

"We are feeling really accomplished following our Preliminary Final against Mount Lofty. They are a team that we have battled for years and have always had incredible outings against. Getting a clean 3-0 win over them to progress to the final instils the confidence that we can play a high level of volleyball and hold ourselves to a set game plan for the entirety of a game."

"Coming up against Austral is going to be a welcomed challenge. They played incredibly clean against us in our Semi Final 2 weeks ago and knowing it is the first League Grand Final in their clubs history means they are going to be hungrier than ever. Our games this year have been of an incredibly high quality and I don’t see the final being any different. We have an incredible level of depth and experience in our team and using every player to their fullest extent is going to be our focus."

"Both players have very talented rosters. Ben Williamson has been a standout libero for them all season and coupling that defensive presence with the offensive capabilities the like of Ryan Scutter, Charlie Disbury, and Daniel Wauchop, we are going to have our hands full. On our side, Olympian Harrison Peacock has been distributing the ball at the highest level all season. A diverse range of attacking styles from our outside and middles will allow Harry to set anywhere on the court, and Simon Coat has assumed the Libero position for us and has been paramount in our defence and serve receive."

Harrison Peacock: Norwood Bears League player

Harrison Peack is eagerly anticipating this HUGE opportunity,

"We feel really grateful and excited at the opportunity. We know how much of a formidable opposition Mount Lofty are and we feel proud that we were able to bring a strong game against them last week. We were really happy to bounce back from a difficult game against Austral and perform really well against one of our big rivals, with really solid contributions from every one of our players. It’s really exciting to be in another grand final and we’re all just really happy at the opportunity to compete for the championship. We really celebrate every opportunity we have to get on the court together, especially in a big grand final."

The "big battle" is soon approaching,

"We’re really excited to have another crack at Austral and in the biggest game of the season. They are a really strong group and have proven that they are the ones to beat this year. We know that if we can bring our best game, then we have a really good shot and the crowd is in for a real treat. We’re also happy that Austral will have an opportunity in the grand final after missing out for so many years in the competition. They’re great bunch of guys and we’ve had a lot of high level matches against them during the season, so we’re all just looking forward to another big battle this weekend."

"Our strength is our ability for each and every one of the players on the side to contribute. If one player is not having their best day then we have the ability for others to step up and fill the void. We are a tight group and really love playing together and this will put us in good stead to deal with the pressures of playing in a grand final. We’ve been here before and we know how to win, so we’ll be doing everything we can to make that happen this weekend."

"We have a really balanced side so you can expect contributions from everyone on the court. One person to keep an eye on is Nick Possingham. He played for the Bears a few years ago and then moved to Canada to play college volleyball. He came back halfway through the season and has been involved with the team ever since. He’s become a huge asset to our side with his strong passing, fast and aggressive offence and huge on court energies. You can expect to see some huge spikes and passionate celebrations from him on the weekend."