If the question was when will the real East Wagga-Kooringal stand up?, the answer is now.
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The Hawks are one win away from a grand final after coming back from four goals down to beat Marrar by 17 points in Saturday's qualifying final at McPherson Oval.
Their 12.11 (83) to 10.6 (66) victory sets up a semi-final showdown with North Wagga on Saturday at Robertson Oval, and they'll go in with confidence.
They're the first team in 10 games to stop the Bombers' run. And when they did, they did it in an instant, dominating the midfield for eight unanswered goals in the middle of the game, going from 24 points down to 27 points up in about 35 minutes of football.
"The boys really lifted, the finals intensity picked up a notch and Marrar at the start went alright but I couldn't have been happier with the way our boys responded," EWK coach Matt Hard said.
"I thought for the best part of three quarters we were clearly the better side and it was a good win."
This was about more than their ability to get a game back on their terms when it mattered. They also managed to right the wrongs of a 67-point belting by the Bombers just three weeks ago.
"In my short time here, it's definitely the best win," Hard said.
"You're coming in and probably not too many people would have tipped us today so we were backs against the wall and for our boys to have a real strong win over quality opposition, I'm happy."
The Hawks' big names stood up in the big game, with their on-field general, Chris Gordon, superb in the middle, captain Ben Absolum producing his best form with some big plays, particularly either side of half-time, and ruckman Nick Hull back to his dominant best.
It was a reminder of why they were installed as pre-season favourites. But this was no three-man show.
Bryce McPherson brought pressure and desperation and Danny Bromham, Sam Hodges and Harry Fitzsimmons also played their roles in the middle as EWK produced the pressure they've struggled to find at times in recent months.
Not even the absence of key forward Chris Ladhams seemed to hurt.
Instead, they went via Jarrod Turner (three goals) and the club's longest-serving player, Brenton Roberts, who kicked a game-high four in his first senior game this year, and 248th first grade game of his career.
He nearly kicked the first of the game, but it was Marrar who hit the scoreboard better in the first quarter-and-a-half. Jackson Moye was winning plenty of ball, and they were able to open up and run, particularly on the rebound.
They kicked three goals to one in the first quarter, and missed the chance for two more late in the first term, with Cal Gardner impressing up forward.
For the first 10 minutes of the second, they threatened to run the Hawks off the feet. But after Rhys Mooney put Marrar four goals clear, it was the opposition who lifted, and no longer gave them an inch in the midfield.
The Hawks won the next four centre clearances and kicked the next four goals, for a one-point lead at the main break.
Marrar weren't helped by the loss of midfielder Toby Lawler to a knock to the back, and they needed the first goal of the second half to stop the rot.
But again the Hawks got the first clearance and carried on where they'd left off, kicking four more in a row as Roberts and Turner got to three and then Gordon hit the mark to ensure the Bombers needed to find five for victory.
They kicked two but still went to three-quarter-time 22 points down after Chris Jackson got on the end of an Absolum bullet, and another movement started by Hull and Gordon up the ground.
Again the Marrar call was to find the first goal of the last quarter. But after another EWK centre clearance, Roberts lined up and kicked his fourth to restore the 28-point lead.
Marrar threatened to get back into it as young guns Drew Beavan in the midfield and Adam Whyte at the back and Gardner and Zach Walgers kicked consecutive goals.
But an inspirational Bryce McPherson tackle for EWK helped snuff out their momentum and when Gordon kicked his second for a 23-point lead after 15 minutes, it was all but over.
Gardner finished a strong game with three goals, while the Hawks did a good job restricting the dangerous Walgers to one, although he went into the midfield in the second half as the Bombers tried to mix things up.
"Marrar are a quality outfit and definitely the form team of the competition so we knew that we had our work cut out for us," Hard said.
"We had to change a few things and I thought our pressure was great and we took away a bit of their run, so I thought that was really important.
"We've just got to keep believing in what we're trying to do and I think today was a big step in the right direction. We didn't drop our heads and go into our shell. If you keep fronting up, the opportunities will come and today the boys did that, so it was good."
It was EWK's first win over Marrar this season and sends the Bombers to sudden-death football.
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