Calder Cannons and Oakleigh Chargers breezed through their preliminary finals last week and are primed for Sunday’s TAC Cup grand final.
Two of the best teams all year laden with potential draft talent, they will square off in a blockbuster clash at Etihad Stadium.
“I’d say we go in to the game as 50-50 favorites,” Cannons coach Andrew Jago said.
“We’ve got the ultimate respect for Oakleigh, they’ve been on top all year, we’ve been chasing them, our finals form has been relatively good as has theirs, so it’s a genuine 50-50 ball game.”
Jago said he expected star big man Peter Wright to tale the field on Sunday, despite leaving the ground with a knee injury in the preliminary final.
Both sides are likely to take settled lineups into the clash, with only minor niggles to manage through the final week of the season.
Cannons captain Touk Miller said the grand final presented a great opportunity for both sides to showcase their talent on a big stage.
“I think every year the grand final’s going to be a game that’s looked at a lot,” Miller said.
“The intensity rises from the regular season so I have very high expectations for this weekend, and I have no doubt it will be nothing short of the SA (South Australia) game in the national carnival.”
Oakleigh led the competition for most of the season, only giving up top spot on the final day of the season, and their captain Darcy Moore said he was ready for the chance to take it up to the Cannons.
“It’s mouth watering really to get the chance to come up against the Calder Cannons,” Moore said.
“We love the opportunity to come up against not only the best talent but also the best football organisations in the TAC Cup.”
The two sides have not met since round 15, with Calder taking a 38-point victory but both sides had vastly different teams to what will run out on Sunday.
Chargers coach Michael Stinear said that result counted for little now.
“You can’t read into that one too much,” Stinear said. “There’s two different sides now, we’ll have to do our homework a bit more cause we haven’t had the chance to play our two full strength teams, so it’ll be a fantastic contest.”
Despite the looming draft combine and the final chance for both sides to impress recruiters under match conditions, Miller said all he was focussed on was a win for the Cannons, which would be the club’s seventh flag.
“The grand final especially it’s like you can almost get yourself drafted in the one game,” Miller said “I just want to do my role in the team, but I’m sure there’s going to be someone that pops their head up and kicks a bag or gets 40 possessions, but sometimes that only happens every couple of years.
“But hopefully we just get the win, it’s probably more about winning the premiership than individual acts.”
Oakleigh is aiming for its second flag in three years, and Moore said he was anxious to get out on the field and get stuck into his work.
“It’s been probably six years since I played in a grand final,” Moore said. “We go head to head with Calder and we do everything we can to bring home the cup, because as an organisation we qualified for the finals probably six or eight weeks ago so it’s been a long time coming.
“The script up until now has been written and we can finally cross that white line and give it a go.”
TAC Cup Grand Final
Calder Cannons v Oakleigh Chargers
Etihad Stadium
Sunday, September 21 10.30am
Adults: $20 / Concession: $15 / Kids 12 & under: Free
The TAC Cup Grand Final will be followed by the VFL Grand Final between Box Hill and Footscray. Entry covers both games.
