TWO-TIME reigning grand finalist Eastern Ranges is as “full strength” and welcoming back a Vic Metro key defender for the biggest Coates Talent League Girls game of the year, with the minor premiers preparing to graduate from the bridesmaid to the bride in 2025.

The Ranges have been an incredibly strong region over a number of years, having made the past two Coates Talent League Girls Grand Finals, and though they have fallen short, remained focused on their goals. Unlike their opponents, many of the Eastern players have experienced the lead-up to a grand final before, and in some cases, twice prior.

“We’ve been here, it’s not our first rodeo so the opportunity is a privilege again and I suppose having a number of girls who have been through this week before, experience is a handy thing and it feels like the girls are really locked in and prepared and ready to go,” Eastern coach Jarrad Donders said.

Also the Vic Metro national championships title-winning mentor, Donders is on the verge of doing the double, alongside a host of Ranges state representatives. For the coach, he said reaching a third straight grand final was testament to the investment into the region.

“We’re an extremely talented region and we’ve invested pretty heavily around the development within our program holistically across high performance, wellbeing and then obviously our football program as well,” Donders said.

“The development within the girls right across the year with numerous girls in representative football at various levels, that in itself plus what we do at Eastern Ranges has contributed to growth and improvement right throughout the year and even coming into this week you’ve got to look at it very similar in regards to we just want to improve and get better and perform even at a high level than what we’ve already done.”

The week might feel the same, but the opponent is different, with Dandenong Stingrays taking out Oakleigh Chargers to deny the Chargers a shot at a third straight flag. In a unique fixture quirk, the Ranges and Stingrays have yet to face-off in 2025, which Donders said made the game perfectly set up from a fan perspective.

“I think Dandy and us both play an exciting brand of footy, like to move the ball pretty quickly, and both defend pretty well,” he said. “If you’re looking at the two gamestyles, I think that it’s going to be an awesome game to watch.”

A particularly daunting task for any opposition is knowing the Ranges are at “full strength” and after missing the preliminary final due to illness, Vic Metro key defender Bree Horne returns to the side in a massive inclusion.

However, Donders stressed it would be all about the overall team and how the Ranges brought their defence, then built off that to mount their offence. The Ranges coach said the profile on both side of the ball has “stood really strongly all year” and “complements” each other which will put them in “good stead”.

While it will require a full team effort, Donders named a host of players who are likely to stand up on the big day, particularly on the open spaces of Ikon Park.

“I think there’s a few, but Tayla McMillan our captain would be one. Jordy Allen our vice-captain would be another, Josephine Bamford is our ruck, plays key forward as well,” Donders said. “Then we’ve got Emily Rankin, Scout Semple up forward and through the midfield. We’ve got a number of players who could really turn the game on.

“We’ve got Asher Fearn-Wannan on the wing who just loves to run and carry and loves the open spaces so if she gets that opportunity on the weekend, she’ll be exciting to watch. “Then we’ve got some really exciting forwards too with Zoe Vozzo, Mathilde Wilkinson and obviously Scout and Emily rolling through there too, as Matilde’s sister in Zoe Wilkinson with the pair of twins.

“So there’s a few but I think those first three I mentioned should be the ones who really drive the upper echelon of performances that we might see.”

As for the opposition, Donders said they had quality players, but would not focus on any one individual to try and quell, and instead his side to go head-to-head against them in what would be a tantalising set of battles.

“We matchup really well across the board, they’ve got some handy players, so do we,” he said. “I think when they go head-to-head in a development Talent League like we’ve got, it’s going to be exciting to watch, and hopefully a number of them get drafted too.”

As for what it would mean to lift the premiership up on Saturday afternoon, Donders said it would be a thrill for the players, and a credit to the program should the ultimate prize head out east.

“The players would obviously love to celebrate a grand final win, but I think it speaks more to the program itself,” he said. “It’s always a privilege to play in these games, and from a club perspective if we’re able to secure the premiership cup, it would just be a tremendous reward for what this program’s been and how strong it’s been over a number of years.”