No room for error as preliminary finals begin in Geraldton water polo, with Rats hoping for a shock

It’s finals time in the Geraldton water polo season, with the preliminary finals for all grades taking place on Friday and Saturday.

In the men’s A-grade match, B52s will take on Rats after their defeat to Demons in the final round of the regular season.

The B52s lost out on the direct route to the final after the Demons put in a masterclass performance, taking the victory 11-4.

Rats will look to player-coach Luke Neuwert and Darcy Wiffen to lead their charge into the grand final. Both players found good form in the last few rounds of the season and they each have the capacity to marshal their team, even against an in-form B52s side.

Neuwert said his team was excited in the lead up to the elimination game.

“The B52s have a lot of experience and will be coming out hard to make sure we don’t get the best of them,” he said.

“This game will really test us to see if we have got what it takes to play A-grade water polo.”

The B52s will be disappointed to have missed out on the direct route to the final but are still heavy favourites and will turn to Kurt and Drew Tunbridge to provide the goals.

In the women’s A-grade, Demons will go up against Rats and with the Demons having won all three games against the Rats, they should be confident of taking a fourth.

Demons have Abbie and Sian McDonald, Kobi Toomath, Trixie Kerr and Jazmin Cocking all hitting a good run of form in the water.

Selina Kiddle has been great in goal for Rats but she will have a testing time against the Demons relentless attacking play.

Rats and Demons also play in the women’s B-Grade, with the Demons coming off a heavy defeat against B52s and the Rats will be upbeat after their convincing win over Serpents.

In the men’s B-grade, B52s Relics will take on Demons, with the Relics having the better form of the two sides going into the game.

But if Jack Cocking plays for the B-grade men, he could provide an edge to push the Demons over the line.

In the men’s C-grade preliminary final, B52s Blue take on Rats, while in the women’s C-grade there are two semifinals.

B52s take on Rats Orange and Rats Black go against Demons Black for the opportunity to face off next week.