ANOTHER Aberfeldie v Greenvale Grand Final is a fitting way to bring Season 2017 to a close.
Saturday’s Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division decider will be the third instalment of what can now be considered a trilogy.
It all started back in 2013 as Aberfeldie, led by Brisbane Lions premiership star, Mal Michael, advanced to into the Grand Final, still looking for a companion to sit alongside its lone A-Grade premiership cup from 1974.
Abers eventually faced Greenvale in the decider, but Anthony Rock’s men were too good and won by 14 points.
Two years later they met again at Windy Hill.
This time it was Adam Potter leading an undefeated Abers side up against Shannon Grant’s Jets.
Aberfeldie agonisingly went down the year before to Strathmore and recruited heavily under new coach Potter to ensure they’d be back for a third crack.
With eventual Reg Rose Medallist Angus Graham slotting seven majors, Aberfeldie broke their hoodoo in emphatic fashion and finally, the heroes of ’74 had new company.
You have to go back to 2011 for an A-Grade/Premier Division Grand Final that did not feature either the Gorillas nor Jets.
Since then, the EDFL has been dominated by these two foes.
Led brilliantly by two of the finest law men in the business, these two clubs have kept very close tabs on each other in the pursuit of Windy Hill glory.
Think about some of the names we could see out on Windy Hill on Saturday: Toy, Maric, Blackwell, Caruso, Reimers, Dempsey, Johns and Chapman.
I could have named more.
Do you really think both Aberfeldie and Greenvale would have accumulated so much quality if they weren’t striving to better one another?
Many should be credited, but what both John Larkins and Bruce Kent have done these past five years is remarkable and we, the EDFL family, are the beneficiaries.
On Saturday we get to witness the EDFL’s finest go at it on the biggest stage once more in a game that will likely go to down to the wire.
They’ll also face off in the Reserves Grand Final, only in different coloured shorts… not to mention that the Senior Thirds Grand Final was also an Aberfeldie v Greenvale one.
Saturday belongs to the two greatest EDFL clubs of the modern era, and we’re all lucky enough to have a front row seat to their greatest bout yet.
