It’s the battle of the Kangaroos on Saturday at Coburg City Oval for the Strathmore Community Bank Division Two premiership.
Oak Park and the Sunbury Kangaroos have taken very different routes to the Grand Final, but that means little come the first bounce on Saturday.
Oak Park are the red-hot favourites heading into the game. Since coming back into Division Two in 2020, Oak Park has been one of the standout teams of the competition.
They were only percentage behind Moonee Valley when the 2021 season was called off, with the Fog getting promoted.
Last season, all three Oak Park sides made Grand Finals, but only the Under 18.5s could get the job done.
This year was a little bit of a slower start, but come the back end of the season, Oak Park entered finals clearly the team to beat.
The first quarter of the Semi Final against Taylors Lakes sent a statement, with a nine-goal lead at the first break.
Fourteen players from last year’s Grand Final side played in the side’s Semi Final win against Taylors Lakes.
Throw in Hirsi Twomey and Max Gleeson, who missed the Semi Final win through suspension, and Blair Cronin, who missed last year’s Grand Final, makes for a very stable line up.
The Sunbury Kangaroos on the other hand is a fairytale story.
After just one win last season, Sunbury came down a division with a new coach and a young playing group with an eye on the future.
They started the season 0-5 and finals seemed anything but plausible at that point.
While it hadn't won a match, Sunbury had been in all five games and could have easily had a winning record at that stage.
But as confidence grew, so did the results and the side put themselves in finals contention.
It would come down to the final round, with a win against Oak Park needed or an injury riddled Burnside Heights to pull off an upset against Coburg Districts.
A one-point win by the Bears was enough for Sunbury to sneak into the top four.
Then came two finals wins in similar fashion. A slow start before warming into the game and Sunbury is a side that never says die and has shown it can never be discounted.
Coach Shanon Carroll said the side’s unpredictability is its biggest strength and it has proven that way in the finals so far.
Just four players from the 2019 premiership team, Mitch Streiff, Mitch Kook, Matthew Leonard, and John Corso played in the Preliminary Final win last week.
The best on ground from the 2019 premiership, Brenton Sutherland missed the game but is expected to return for the Grand Final.
For the Kangaroos, it’s the young group of players that are the most exciting.
They fell agonisingly short last season of making the Division One Under 18.5 Grand Final by one point, but the bond of that group is telling.
Blake Tirchett, Brody Watts, Shawn Bowden, Zach Ploog, Jordan James, and Daniel Stubbs were part of that group and will form the nucleus for the Kangaroos going forward.
Looking closely at the two teams' seasons, Oak Park has the upper hand in most categories.
Oak Park was the best team offensively during the regular season, averaging 104 points per game to Sunbury’s 91 points per game.
Oak Park sat only behind Taylors Lakes defensively, conceding on average 64 points per game compared to Sunbury’s 76.5 per game.
The two teams played each other three times during the season with Oak Park winning on all three occasions.
In Round 2, Oak Park got over the line by two points having had seven more scoring shots. The Round 10 clash was all one-way traffic with Oak Park destroying Sunbury in their worst performance for the season.
The final round clash was another thriller with Oak Park winning by three points, but it had nothing on the line unlike Sunbury.
Come game day, expect Oak Park to try and exert some physicality early on Sunbury. It was what happened in Round 10 and both Northern Saints and Taylors Lakes did the same thing in the final series.
If Oak Park gets on the board early, it needs to get some reward for dominance on the scoreboard to put Sunbury out of the game.
Jedd Taylor will be one of the keys for Oak Park having kicked 12 goals in the last two meetings between the sides.
We know he can play up the ground, but I would expect him to play a fair chunk of time forward.
At the other end, Sunbury has Rhys Magin. The former Essendon player has been one of the best players in the competition having come across this year.
Whether it's up forward, where he finished second in the competition goal kicking, or in the middle, he can have an influence.
The ruck contest will be another big battle. Traditionally on Grand Final day, rucks have had a big influence on games.
With Twomey and Sutherland set to return for their sides, they will be big inclusions. Dean Halliwell is a wildcard for Sunbury in that area, coming off a best on ground performance in the Preliminary Final.
If Sunbury get a sniff, that’s when they’re at their most dangerous as they’ve shown in the two finals.
Sunbury keeps coming and coming and it’s an amazing thing what confidence and momentum can do.
While Sunbury has nothing to lose, the one concern could be if they’re spent before making the big day.
There’s been a lot of energy and excitement used the last few weeks, Sunbury is hoping it can take it one step further.
While it's the battle of the Kangaroos, there will only be one Kangaroo King come 5pm on Saturday.
