SWFL: Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault hunting consecutive colts premierships in grand final against Bunbury

Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault will be hunting a second consecutive South West Football League colts premiership in their grand final clash with Bunbury. The contest is sure to have some added feeling as a rematch of last year’s season decider, which saw HBL recover from a slow start to win by 41 points. The Lions have produced an utterly dominant defence of their 2024 flag, going through the home and away season without a loss and winning each of their games by margins of at least four goals. After progressing directly through to the second semifinal by finishing atop the ladder, they locked away the first place in the season decider by beating the Bulldogs by 23 points in difficult conditions at Bovell Park. HBL’s side for the second semifinal included a number of players who have spent parts of the season playing at league level, including John Manuel, Beau Freemantle, Ziggy Fremantle and Kayden Pannetta. Kalani Downes, who was last week crowned as one of the winners of the competition’s best and fairest medal in a three-way tie, also shapes as one of their key performers. Bunbury, who finished in second on the ladder with a 15-3 win-loss record, ensured they would have the chance to again test themselves against the competition’s pace-setters with a 37-point preliminary final win over Carey Park on Sunday. The Bulldogs do present as having the advantage in continuity, with their side more sparsely affected by senior call-ups throughout the season in comparison to the Lions. In the two home and away games between the sides this year, HBL cruised to a 47-point victory in round two but Bunbury provided a much sterner test in the reverse fixture in round 13, which they led by 13 points at half-time but went on to lose by 26 points. The colts grand final is the first game of the day and will get under way at 8.30am.