Allan Gillett Oval in Macksville will be the place to be this Sunday, when the Macksville Sea Eagles host the Group 2 grand final.
This will be the third time in five years that the Eagles have hosted the grand final, with Macksville winning the first grade match in 2005 and 2007, along with a win in the Under-18s in 2007.
For Coach Neville Donovan a win will be especially sweet after the disappointments of last season, but a win will also see Donovan take the record for the most grand final victories for a Macksville player – seven – a record he currently shares with his cousin Reg Donovan.
While Donovan is almost certainly the most experienced grand final player in the group, he has a team of novices in this regard, with Nigel Hookey, Matt Byrnes, Luke Cartwright, Jesse McEwen, Jim and Grant Collison and Tyler Searle appearing in their debut first grade grand final.
At the same time, players like Garry Jarrett, David Pickvance, Duane Button, Mick Ronan, Djaan Jarrett, Ed Vale-Tighe and Bobby Jarrett have all won competitions with the Eagles, while Glen Weatherall, Steven Kim and Grant Coleman also have grand final experience.
Among these a special mention goes to Chris Martin, the players who has added an extra dimension to the Eagles in attack and defence, and will be playing in his first grand final at Allan Gillett Oval.
With Nambucca Heads the favourites to take out the Under-18s trophy on Sunday, this is a great opportunity for all league supporters in the Valley to be at Allan Gillett Oval from 11am this Sunday to cheer on both the Valley’s Clubs to grand final wins.
The road to the 2009 Group 2 grand final for the Macksville Sea Eagles really began in the final weeks of the 2008 competition, when a young Eagles’ outfit scored important wins over Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga to show their real potential.
Over the off-season the club made several important signings, including the bulk of the 2008 squad as well as Grant Coleman, Michael Ronan, Peter Bula, Ed Vale-Tighe and Glen Weatherall, and the pre-season trials, with wins over Wauchope and Dunghutti as well as a narrow loss to Port Macquarie, indicated these signings could add a vital edge to a young combination.
The first round saw the Eagles play at home against Sawtell. In the end the Eagles ran in six tries, all scored by a mercurial backline, to run out winners 32-28, and sound a warning that the Eagles were a force to be reckoned with.
Any momentum gained by the Eagles with this win was lost, however, when heavy rain found the Eagles having to move their training indoors and to defer two games.
The Eagles’ second game of the season saw them travel to Bellingen where they suffered their first defeat the hands of the Magpies by 38-34.
Three wins in succession followed over Dunghutti, Woolgoolga and Port Macquarie, which were all semi-finalists in the previous season, put the Eagles back on track, but again the weather forced the postponement of the following round, and the Eagles found the week off a burden, going down to the Orara Valley Axemen.
For the early part of the season, this proved to be the pattern for the Eagles, building up momentum with a series of wins, only to find themselves missing a weekend and going down the following week.
While all clubs were affected by postponements at this stage of the season, the Eagles found themselves with an extra game to play, and when the players agreed, the club organised two games to be held over the June long weekend, and two wins in two days saw the Eagles move up into a top three spot, a position they would retain for the rest of the season.
Midway through the season the club’s strength was bolstered with the signing of Steven Kim, a one time Canberra Brumbie, and the return of Glen Weatherall and the decision of Chris Martin, a veteran of three Macksville grand final wins, to make the fortnightly trip from Singleton to play.
The second round saw the Eagles suffer only two losses, to Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, but they also defeated Woolgoolga and Sawtell for the second time, as well as Bellingen and Orara, giving them at least one win for the season over all the teams vying for the final five.
Macksville was competing with Port and Sawtell for the important top three positions, and with three weeks to go it was clear these three teams would fill the top spots, with the only question being who would finish where.
This question remained until the final round, and when the Mustangs were forced to forfeit the final game against the Eagles, Macksville had to wait out the weekend to see the final placings.
In the end Sawtell finished the season as minor premiers, but Port went down to Coffs Harbour, meaning the Eagles ended the season in second place.
In the finals, the Eagles scored a big win over the Sharks and moved on to face the Panthers in the major semi-final.
The Eagles had already defeated Sawtell twice in the season, and in the end this record was extended when the Eagles blitzed the Panthers to run out winners by 56-22, thus earning the right to host this weekend’s grand final at Allan Gillett Oval.
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