Launceston is hoping a Southern hat-trick can maintain the Northern dominance of the State League.
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Sam Lonergan’s masters of the Midland Highway have won back-to-back away finals to eliminate Glenorchy and Clarence and face the prospect of adding Lauderdale to that list to set up an all-Launceston derby grand final.
Meanwhile the Southern Bombers must create club history to stop the flag heading North for the sixth time in seven years.
Coach Darren Winter has a week to get his charges off the canvas from their 94-point semi-final thumping by North Launceston and deliver a knockout blow to Lonergan’s young Blues. Victory in Saturday’s preliminary final at Bellerive (at 2pm) and the following week’s grand final at UTAS Stadium would earn Lauderdale its first statewide premiership.
Launceston is seeking to add to its 2011 TSL flag while North is targeting its third in four years and fourth overall.
Glenorchy’s defeat of North in last season’s decider was the first time the flag headed South since Brett Geappen’s Clarence claimed back-to-back premierships after the competition was re-formed in 2009.
The Magpies have been the only Southern grand finalists in that time as a Jason Laycock-inspired Burnie (2012), Mitch Thorp’s South Launceston (2013) and 2014 runner-up Western Storm took turns to join in the party.
The comfortable win by Tom Couch’s side in Saturday’s battle of the Bombers also means that the TSL showpiece will take place at Launceston’s AFL venue for the sixth time in seven years. It will be on Saturday, September 23, at 3.30pm following development league and TSLW grand finals.