Longford, Rocherlea to face-off in NTFA premier grand final

Playing-coach Josh Ponting said Purdon, who has been named on the wing, was among numerous players pushing for selection this week.

Meanwhile, Longford playing-coach Beau Thorp said his side was looking to break a long drought.

READ MORE: 'Long wait over': Saints overcome gallant Thistles in grand final

They haven't won a premiership since 1989 while Rocherlea last tasted success in 2016.

Longford defeated Rocherlea by 17 points in their semi-final a fortnight ago.

Longford got the hot start and led by 39 points at half-time before Rocherlea outscored them in the second half.

Thorp reflected on how they hung on in that game.

"We had to look at some of our forward entries and where we were turning the ball over and our midfield," he said.

"They were shooting the ball over our midfield and going forward.

"Momentum swings are huge and fortunately our captain (Josh Frankcombe) both times kicked a goal against their momentum. It was great to steady the ship against their onslaught."

The coach said his side would need to match Rocherlea's pressure and go toe-to-toe with them at stoppages.

"Then we've got to spread evenly and quickly to try and spread them on the large surface," he said.

"It's a much bigger ground than our home ground and we play our ground well.

"We know if we can get moving and use the space that'll be one of our strengths."

Ponting said it took his side a while to adapt to what Longford were doing in the semi-final.

"We got caught behind a little bit," he said.

"We weren't playing our brand of footy and got too distracted by other things happening off the footy.

"In the second half, we identified that and adapted to what we needed to do and executed our game plan.

"We came out on top in the second half. We didn't get the result but that holds us in good stead and we're confident our best footy stacks up."

Both teams are proud to have plenty of home-grown talent.

"Something we're really proud of is 80 per cent of our side are Longford boys and/or played juniors at Longford," Thorp said.

"The other thing we're really excited about is from this time last year, we've got eight or nine new players in the side.

"And we only recruited one or two players.

"So they're all players that have come from our under-18s or reserves premiership last season and they're playing strong senior football."

Ponting also highlighted the camaraderie in his team.

"I've been driving into them that our group's pretty much from the northern suburbs," he said.

"There are probably one or two that have come in from elsewhere and we've all grown up together and gone to school together.

"There's a lot of history, we've played a lot of junior footy together. I'd say we're probably one of the most tight-knit groups going around."

Both coaches have prepared their teams for the 4pm start which is later than the usual.

"I've been saying to the boys all week just prepare like a normal game," Thorp said.

"Try and play the game, not the occasion. Obviously there'll be nerves and a few more people around but the first team to settle and get into the groove of footy will be the team that comes out on top."

There'll be more to come in Saturday's paper about the Longford township getting behind their team.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: