Grand final preview: Defending champions at full strength in men’s decider against Spencer Park

North Albany will be at full strength in their bid to win successive Lower Great Southern Hockey Association men’s A-grade premierships as they prepare to face Spencer Park in the grand final on Saturday afternoon. The Redbacks broke through last year to win their first premiership since 2006 and now have a chance to go back-to-back. Park, on the other hand, will try to win their first premiership since 2007 and play for redemption after falling to this weekend’s opponent in last year’s decider. Redbacks finished on top of the ladder to advance straight through to the grand final, while Park scored in extra time against Manypeaks in the preliminary final to book their place. In their three encounters this season, Redbacks won the first two, and Park prevailed in their most recent clash. “We will be at full strength and we have had a good group all year, so that’s a real positive going into Saturday,” Redbacks coach Dan Smith said. “We have been pretty evenly contested over the season, there isn’t much between us. “We have to nullify Darren Parkes through the middle, he is a high-quality player. “Every premiership you win is special but this one would mean a lot after such uncertainty a few months ago. “Hopefully there is a good crowd there to watch a high-quality game. “I’m expecting it to be a lot of end-to-end play.” Park’s chances have been dented by the omission of full-back Andre Gabriel, who is unavailable. After winning their last meeting with Redbacks 3-0, Park senior player Liam Wesson said he expected a strong contest. “It will be two quality sides going at it, so it should be a good spectacle,” he said. “I think for us to win, we need to bring a strong intensity at the start of the game and keep a solid structure across the field. “Whichever team performs that consistently will win. “It would be special to win a premiership with this group, we sort of came from two clubs and merged together. “This season we lost some players but gained some young kids, we have gelled together nicely over the compacted season and enjoy playing with each other.” The men’s A-grade clash is set down for 5pm on Saturday.