SWFL grand final: South Bunbury coach Julian Burgess says no extra pressure with invincible 2024 one win away

South Bunbury would complete an invincible season and write another proud chapter in the club’s storied history if they win Sunday’s South West Football League grand final. But, coach Julian Burgess insists his side is feeling no extra pressure. The Tigers will come into the season decider seeking to win their 46th premiership but just their third since the turn of the century, having not tasted the ultimate success since 2016. Burgess said the weight of having history on the line was not bearing down on his side, saying they had kept their focus firmly on the job in front of them throughout their unbeaten season. “It definitely hasn’t been spoken about once at all. Everything’s just been solely focused on our match-ups and winning the game of footy,” he said. “From week-to-week, we’ve just set up the same way. Whoever we’re playing, we set up to win every week, like every team does. “We don’t change anything this week, we just play our normal brand of footy.” A finals system which grants the minor premiers byes in both the first week of the finals and if they win the first qualifying final the following week means the grand final will be just the Tigers’ second hit-out in 29 days. But Burgess said having some extra time off was a positive and his side was feeling fresh for the season decider. “We haven’t spoken about it too much, we’ve just been trying to go about our business as usual,” he said. “The first weekend we had off, we had a fairly solid training session before the reserves game and it was a similar set-up this week, on the Sunday morning we trained at Payne Park and had a good blow there. “The boys are still getting the (kilometres) in their legs and we’re still doing competitive work, so we haven’t lost that want for the contest.” With South Bunbury’s reserves side also contesting the grand final, Burgess said the club’s depth had been the driving force behind their brilliant campaign. “There’s no doubt we have some big-name players, but I think the strength of our team is the guys that come in, they’re all playing their roles,” he said. “We don’t rely on any one person, it’s a team mentality we go with from week-to-week, whether it’s finals or home and away.” The Tigers have beaten the Bulldogs in all three of their clashes by a total of 107 points but Burgess said he was full of respect for their opposition and he had braced his side for the sternest of challenges. “Bunbury have got some bloody good players, they’re almost the form side of the comp, I would say,” he said. “They’re hardened, they’ve had a consistency of games leading in ... but we back our structures in.”