Onshore Cup Football Association: Feel-good story as Eagles reach grand final against Busselton Bombers

It’s been quite a year for the Bunbury Eagles Football Club. In round one they were hammered by 125 points by the Busselton Bombers at Sir Stewart Bovell Park — five months later both sides are squaring off in the Onshore Cup Football Association grand final at the same venue. Oh, and the club also re-branded from Dalyellup to Bunbury Eagles during the middle of the season. Eagles playing president Damien Newman believes an influx of personnel helped the side bounce back from a challenging start. “Early on, we knew the first couple of games were going to be tough,” he said. “We were unable to line up a lot of our guys on FIFO rosters. In round two, we went down to Augusta by 81 points and started with 18 players. “I think halfway during the game, we were down to 16. Then we had the three-week break over Easter and things started to change —we got a few personnel back in and off we went from there pretty much.” Newman also outlined the significance of moving to Hay Park from Dalyellup. “We loved being in Dalyellup, but the facilities we played out of down there were not really suited to a senior team — it was more junior-based,” he said. “Whereas down at Hay Park, it has a good pavilion where you can have a good crowd and facilitate things after games. It also opened up a lot more sponsorship opportunities in the Bunbury area.” The Bombers finished the home and away season unbeaten and then easily defeated the Mulies 15.5 (95) to 2.8 (20) in the second semifinal. Although no one has knocked them off this year, Newman is adamant his men will leave nothing in the tank. “We obviously know Busselton are a juggernaught team and they are hard to beat,” he said. “But there’s no better story than an underdog. “At the start of the year, I would’ve laughed at you if you had of told us we would be playing in the grand final.” Bounce down is at 9am.