Bulls face emotional selection call

Mt Barker coach Shane Thompson is set to face the tough selection task of leaving two players out of the Bulls’ grand final line-up but will likely wait on the weather forecast before choosing his best 22 to take on North Albany.

Thompson yesterday confirmed key midfielders Peter Taylor and Tyron Miller would return after missing the second semifinal, leaving the difficult task of omitting two players.

Entering their first grand final in 11 seasons on the back of a 10-game winning streak, Thompson said performance and the conditions on Sunday would decide the final make-up, with no preference over local or travelling players.

He said if the club had not chosen to recruit players from Perth, the Bulls would not have survived.

“We said way back it goes on performance and they had 10 games to pick themselves,” he said.

“We will be picking the best balanced side — we have no injuries and there will be no excuses.”

Thompson said no line had been put through ruckman Michael Wright despite the veteran big man not playing since round 13 after being dropped and stuck on 198 league games.

The Kangas also face a massive selection call, with ruckman Nathan Dovey missing the preliminary final with hamstring tightness but is available for selection.

Kangas coach Craig Dew said all the pressure would be on the Bulls with the amount of money they had spent on “assembling an all-star team” to win a premiership.

“We believe our strength is we have 15 players who have come through our colts program … we are a side invested in our footy club and we believe that will be massive in the context of the game as our players bleed red and white,” he said.

“Clearly they are the favourites, they have beaten us three times, including the semifinal when we thought we had them on the canvas.”

Thompson said the Bulls’ second semifinal win had given the group great confidence and the club and town were proud of their resurgence this season.

“We will have massive support there and we will be making it as hostile as possible for North Albany,” he said.

“We have unfinished business as it has been a long time between any success for this club.

“So the hunger is there and we will be trying damn hard to win this game for not only the club but also the town.”