Oak Park and Hillside are seeking their own slice of history when they run out onto Windy Hill in the Airport Toyota Premier Division grand final on Saturday.
The Kangaroos are looking for their third straight premiership and with it becoming the first club to win three senior women’s premierships in the standalone EDFL competition.
While the Kangaroos are seeking to add more success to their trophy cabinet, the Sharks are stepping out onto the biggest stage for the first time.
A preliminary final in 2019 and 2024 are the closest the Sharks have come to making the grand final.
It has been a three-team race all season, like it was 12 months ago.
Aberfeldie for much of the season seemed to be the premiership favourites and finished on top of the ladder.
But like the Sharks last year, went out in straight sets and couldn’t step up when it counted most.
It leaves the Kangaroos and Sharks finishing the season just like they started it, against each other.
Offensively, there was less than a point a game difference between the two sides in the regular season.
The Sharks hold a better defensive record, but both rarely conceded big scores.
Just once did the Sharks concede more than 50, while the Kangaroos did it just twice. Not surprisingly both did it against the high scoring Abers side, while the Kangaroos' other time came against bottom side Maribyrnong Park.
In the two games against each other, it has been a hard slog.
In Round 1 there were just seven goals kicked as Natasha Campbell in her Sharks debut kicked the winner late in the match.
In Round 10, the scoreline wasn’t much larger with eight goals between the two sides. The Kangaroos led all day in that match as the Sharks came home hard.
Last season it was 10 goals, five goals, and nine goals in each of the games between the sides.
Expect another close one come grand final day especially with the weather forecast looking less than desired.
Throw in the fact the last three Premier Division grand finals have been won by scores of 30, 26, and 34, so the games become all about pressure and contested ball and who can make the most of it.
Both sides match up well against each other and don’t necessarily rely on out and out stars to get them across the line each week.
The Kangaroos bring that grand final experience with them which will be a big help.
Thirteen players from last season’s premiership played in the opening round of finals.
Ten of those will be looking for the three-peat.
In that game, the Kangaroos were able to control the match and hold off when Abers came hard at them in the second half.
They have experience across all three areas of the ground, starting with captain Maggie Styles in the middle of the ground.
Styles sets the tone for her side and is a big game player as seen in the qualifying final win.
Maggie O’Connell is an excitement machine up forward.
The Essendon VFLW player has four bags of three goals or more this season and was the Mt Alexander Hotel player of the match in the qualifying final.
The Kangaroos have experience down back led by Trilby Sheppard, and everyone knows how damaging the wing combination of Mia Briedis and Emily Findlay can be.
For the Sharks, a grand final is a new experience.
The Reserves, which will also play on Saturday, played off in the grand final last season but just one player, Ashlee Portelli, played in the senior side’s preliminary final win last week.
The Sharks came from behind to run over the top of Abers, having managed their players earlier in the game.
While the Sharks haven’t had major success as a side, they have plenty of experienced players of their own accord.
Emily Paterno finished her VFLW days with a premiership with North Melbourne last year.
Caitlin Sargent and Hannah Ibrahim have played at higher levels, while Natasha Campbell was best on ground in Airport West’s Division Two premiership in 2023.
Annalise Wilkie, who is one of five players from the 2019 preliminary final side, will be another key.
The EDFL media team said heading into the season that there was no clear favourite.
That still sits right heading into the grand final with either side a worthy winner came Saturday afternoon.
