LAST years grand finalists will again lock horns in Wednesday’s Premier Mixed decider after both Geelong and Parkville won their respective M-League semi-finals during the week. Reigning premiers Geelong will come into the grand final as underdogs as they did last year, having fought past Altona Falcons by nine goals in their semi-final, while Parkville Panthers took care of NNE Vipers, 52-38.

In that one-sided contest, the unbeaten Panthers were surprisingly behind at the first break, despite 10 opening term goals from Australian superstar Brodie Roberts. After a relatively quiet first term from goal shooter Amy Starzer (two goals) who largely set up Roberts, she came into her own in the second term shooting six goals as Connor Lilly came on for a term to add four to his name.

At the same time, the pairing of Brooke Dadds (11 goals in the first half) and Alexander Nichols (seven goals in the second term) seemed to work, with Michael Dower chipping in with seven goals of his own in the opening 15 minutes. By half-time the Vipers were sensationally up by two goals and there was an unease around the court as if the unbeaten Panthers surely could not drop another huge game.

Just when the chips were down, the class stood up and centre Riley Richardson – who had the first quarter off – came to the fore and dominated through the middle as the Vipers duo of Ben Bruitzman and Sam Dugan tried to nullify his impact. He lead from the front with his feeds into the circle and movement across the court, while Roberts was firing at a ridiculously high volume.

In the third term alone Roberts piled on 14 goals as the Panthers added 15 goals to just five in that third term to completely turn the game around. Despite being a class player, Jake Hederics had not had the same impact as he usually would, with Tristan Comans called on for the second half to face off against the in-form Nichols. He kept him to just four goals, while Kaylia Stanton – who was playing in the unfamiliar role of goal keeper – restricted Dadds to a solitary goal.

Now boasting a remarkable eight-goal lead, Parkville had the momentum, and they carried it through to the final siren, winning the fourth term 15-14. Roberts added another 13 goals to make 27 for the half, and 37 for the match, while Richardson was outstanding and Elli Leydin teamed up well at wing attack. Despite Dadds responding with another four goals and Dower returning to the court for five, the third term ultimately cost the Vipers.

Minus Jake Schuster in defence to try and nullify the red-hot Roberts, the Vipers had no answers for him or Richardson as Parkville shot the lights out in the second half. The pair were two of the clear standouts on court, while for the Vipers, Maddi Wallmeyer also featured among the best for her work in wing attack, particularly in the first half.

In the other match, Geelong earned the right to go back-to-back with a hard-fought victory over Altona Falcons. The reigning premiers produced a strong second term to breakaway to a seven-goal lead at half-time, and while the Falcons did manage to stem the bleeding in the second half, it was a case of too little, too late.