BOX Hill Hawks Coach Marco Bello is confident that his side’s best football is good enough to win a second premiership in three years.
But anything less than that will make it tough, he says.
The Hawks will play in their third consecutive VFL grand final, when they take on standalone club Williamstown at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After finishing the home-and-away season as minor premiers, the Hawks will enter the decider on the back of a qualifying final win against Footscray and a hard-fought preliminary final win against Sandringham.
MATCH PREVIEW: Box Hill Hawks grand final
The ledger stands at one-all between the Hawks and Seagulls this season.
The Hawks recorded a ten-goal win in Round 10, with the Seagulls claiming the chocolates in Round 20.
“The game that we won, we played very well and executed our game plan to the best we’ve done all year really,” Bello said.
“Conversely, in that losing game nothing went right for us really and we weren’t able to fire a shot.
“(The win) gives us a bit of confidence that if we can play our style of football… against most sides we can come away with a win, but if we bring anything less than that, then it’s going to be a tough battle against a Williamstown side that’s got some really good players and guys who have a lot of experience playing big games.”
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Bello said the Seagulls’ strength was arguably their midfield brigade, led by ruckman Nick Meese and skipper Ben Jolley, with the likes of Adam Marcon, Willie Wheeler and Ed Carr also important.
The Hawks’ squad features 17 Hawthorn-listed players – including ball magnet Jonathan Simpkin and dual Frosty Miller Medallist Sam Grimley, who both played in the Hawks’ 2013 VFL premiership.
Bello said his side was raring to go.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort in to get to this stage,” he said.
“Now that it’s finally here you can feel that buzz and excitement amongst the players.”