It’s a Rookie Me Division One Grand Final months in the making.
West Coburg and Deer Park have been the two best teams this season and will face each other in the Grand Final for a spot in the top flight next season.
Ever since these two clubs played a thriller in Round 3 and another one in Round 8 when West Coburg won after the siren, there has been anticipation of an enticing Grand Final match up.
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Throughout the season, the Burgers were the standout team building on last year’s grand final appearance.
They went through the regular season undefeated as only one team got close to them, Deer Park.
The Burgers had the best record offensively, averaging 125 points per game, while defensively they also ranked number one, conceding just 52 points per game.
The Lions entered the EDFL and Rookie Me Division One competition with high expectations and they justified them.
The Lions lost four games during the regular season, but all four were decided by less than a goal and came against the other sides in the top three.
They have hit another level once the finals arrived, sending statements to the other sides as players returned and the side really started to gel.
They were impressive against Rupertswood and even better against West Coburg, inflicting its first loss of the season.
The Burgers kicked just one goal in the first half such was the Lions dominance.
A proud team that West Coburg is, it was able to bounce back against Rupertswood in the Preliminary Final to earn another shot at Deer Park.
Now the question begs, will we see the same sort of game that we have seen during the regular season in the grand final, a hotly contested one that goes down to the wire?
Or will Deer Park continue its strong form and get its first EDFL premiership and eighth premiership in the last nine completed seasons?
Or might West Coburg throw a spanner in the works and show why it has been the best side all year?
Both teams come in with plenty of experience and players and coaches having been on the biggest stage.
West Coburg had all three sides in Grand Finals last year. While they lost all three, the old saying is you have to lose one to win one.
They will only be better for the experience and added more experience into their team this season including Ruairi and Dinny Cleary, Tom Baravi, Ibby Taha, and Omar Saad.
The Lions produced one of the more dominant displays in local football with seven straight top level premierships in the WRFL, a feat achieved by no other team.
Scott Greenhough, Spiros Amarantidis, Tim Quick, Jake McKenzie, William Krithararis, and Kane Testa were all part of that last premiership team in 2019, and most played in more than one premiership.
Coach Heath Scotland has a premiership under his belt, having coached his junior club Darley to a Ballarat Football League premiership.
Who lines up for the Lions is one of the biggest questions heading into the game. The Lions can’t fit all their stars in with player points and have big decisions to make.
Luke Goater, who kicked seven goals in a best on ground performance in the Lions qualifying final win, is available with Footscray’s VFL season over.
In that first match Levi Greenwood didn’t play, but was best on ground in the semi final win.
VFL-listed players Michael Edwards and Jackson Barling both played Reserves in the Semi Finals and surely come into contention for the big dance.
Jake McKenzie is another to come into contention, while Altona premiership player Kevin Johnson is another who has been playing in the Reserves.
Come game time, the key is the start for both teams.
In the first game, Deer Park was wasteful early and made to pay for it and West Coburg could have put the game away in Round 8 early had they kicked straight.
In the final, it was all Deer Park and West Coburg never recovered.
The Burgers need league leading goal kicker Omar Saad to have a big game and get into the match early. He kicked three the first time they played and one each in the next two.
It’s been Ibby Taha, who sits second in the goal kicking behind his teammate, that has been the main one that causes the Lions trouble, but he was kept to just one goal in the Semi Final.
The key for the Burgers is to win the ball in the middle of the ground and then put the pressure back on the Lions.
The Lions have a lot of class in the middle and have shown when they can get good inside 50s, they have a number of different options up forward.
Stop the likes of Nash Holmes and Greenwood, it will go a long way to winning.
Deer Park will go into the game as favourites after their Semi Final win, but you can’t discount a side like West Coburg.
This match should be a cracker.
