BOX Hill Hawks are one more win away from playing in a third consecutive VFL Grand Final.
The Hawks will take on Sandringham at North Port Oval on Saturday at 2pm.
Seventeen Hawthorn-listed players have been named in Box Hill’s extended 27-man squad.
The Hawks have had a fortnight’s break to prepare for the match against the Zebras, after their qualifying final win against Footscray.
Box Hill Hawks Coach Marco Bello said the break had allowed the Hawks to prepare strongly for the match.
"It's been good preparation for us," he said.
"Obviously we had a similar scenario last year, so we’re accustomed to having that week off heading into the prelim, but we still worked pretty hard during that week."
The Zebras, who finished second of the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season, rebounded from a qualifying final loss to Williamstown with a narrow semi final win against Collingwood to book their preliminary final berth.
Bello said the Zebras were a dangerous opponent and one of the competition's form sides.
"They’re probably the in form side of the competition at the moment – eight of their past nine games they’ve won," he said.
"They’ve got the ability to kick a high score and defend very well.
"We’ll need to make sure we’re able to stop their goalkickers in (Ahmed) Saad, (Trent) Dennis-Lane and Mitch Brown, and make sure we can also score at our end with the mixture of players we’ve got who can hit the scoreboard."
Hawthorn-listed players Daniel Howe, James Sicily and Angus Litherland will bolster the Hawks’ victorious qualifying final team, while AFL premiership midfielder Will Langford will also line-up in the VFL after missing out on selection for Hawthorn’s semi final.
Sicily will be a welcome addition - last time the Hawks met the Zebras, in Round 6, he kicked five goals to be named best on ground for the hawks in a 23-point win.
Dallas Willsmore will enter the match on the back of a five-goal effort in the Hawks' qualifying final win, while Jed Anderson, Jonathan Simpkin, Brendan Whitecross and Tim O'Brien also impressed in the Hawks most recent match.
The Hawks’ development side - which is yet to be defeated this season - will play in the grand final at 11.30am, with a number of first-year Hawthorn-listed players also set to feature in the match.
Seniors
Box Hill v Sandringham
North Port Oval
Saturday 19 September, 2.40pm
B: Heatherley, Litherland, Miles
HB: Willsmore, Spangher, Mirra
C: Iles, Simpkin, O’Rourke
HF: Sicily, Anderson, Whitecross
F: O’Brien, Grimley, Tatupu
Foll: Ceglar, Howe, W. Langford
I/C from: Gibson, Collins, Tobin, Pittonet, Lock, Evans, Lawlor, Williams, Gordon
Development
Box Hill v Williamstown
North Port Oval
Saturday 19 September, 11.40am
B: Exon, Collins, Summers
HB: Fisher, Gordon, Walker
C: Miller-Lewis, Williams, L. Langford
HF: Tobin, Graham, Lawlor
F: Switkowski, McEvoy, Jones
Foll: Pittonet, Gibson, Hardisty
I/C from: Kidd, Crocker, R. Monkhorst, Bond, Traynor, Pell, Murphy, Z. Monkhorst, Soccio, Franetic, Vizzarri, Dimasi, Sheridan-Ferrie
RELATED
Clarko expects Hawks to respond
