SWFL 2022: Harvey Bulls eye a shot at redemption in reserves preliminary final

With a wealth of support behind them, the Harvey Bulls are four quarters away from reaching the 2022 SWFL reserves grand final.

For any club, reaching a grand final is a fantastic achievement — however for the town of Harvey, seeing their Bulls in a big game brings an extra degree of pride, especially given their recent on-field struggles over the past three years.

The Bulls, guided superbly by Carlo Celisano, have been building nicely during the second half of the season.

With clinical midfielder Dean Miller (who won the 2022 Times Medal last Friday night) pulling the strings in the midfield, the Bulls’ forwards have had no shortage of opportunities to hit the scoreboard.

Despite narrowly falling short against Augusta-Margaret River on Saturday, Bulls forwards Cameron Penny and Trent Murdoch were in brilliant touch — and their opponents in the preliminary final, South Bunbury, know they can ill-afford to let both of these men do as they please.

Meanwhile, South Bunbury are not there to make up the numbers.

After narrowly holding off HBL in the elimination final, the Tigers found things easier against arch rival Bunbury, holding the Bulldogs to a surprising 2.6 (18) in Sunday’s first semifinal.

Aside from being extremely accountable in defence, South were brilliantly served by Troy Bennell in the forward line — a nippy attacker who relishes the chance to play creative football under pressure.

In the colts, Bunbury will square off against surprise packets HBL, with the winner taking on reigning premiers Carey Park in the grand final.