AFTER eighteen rounds and four months of an action-packed season, the Ovens and King footy finals are only a fortnight away.

Bright has enjoyed the week off during their second bye, with matches coming up against North Wangaratta (home) and Milawa (away) their last chance to impress in the regular season.

The Mountain Men have enjoyed thirteen wins and three losses along the way, but dealing with a lengthy injury list and mixed form earlier in the season means that it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for last year’s grand finalists.

While a top-two finish with a double chance may be the most direct and desirable path to a premiership, Bright’s probable third-placed finish won’t worry them in the slightest, as they showed with three consecutive finals wins on their way to the decider in 2023.

Senior coach Paul Harrison says his team is tracking well in the lead-up to another finals campaign.

“We are travelling along nicely – we’re starting to get a few back and playing some nice footy,” Harrison said.

“We are looking to continue to build momentum into finals over the next couple of games, but obviously don’t want to look past either of them (North Wangaratta and Milawa).

“We will manage our list so we have everyone available for a big finals period for our seniors and reserves.”

Referencing the one-point win against North Wangaratta when they last played earlier in the season, vice-captain Michael Elliott knows that a tough game awaits.

“As we found out earlier in the year, you can’t sleep on any teams – North Wangaratta took it right up to us last time we played them, so we will have to be right on if we want to get the chocolates,” Elliott said.

On the courts at Pioneer Park, Bright’s A grade netball side can take plenty of positives from the year despite being out of finals contention.

Bright (eighth) have won five games so far this season, which is a considerable improvement from winning only one match in 2023.

The squad has an impressive mix of experience and youth, and they will be looking to return to finals action in the not-too-distant future for the first time since 2019.

Their penultimate game will be at home against North Wangaratta, who they defeated by 11 goals last time they met and will be looking to repeat the result this Saturday.