The Albury Thunder has stamped itself as a champion team, winning two premierships in a row. But now the club sits on the cusp of immortality as it takes a shot at becoming only the third team in history to win three straight.
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MITCH Davis gets excited just thinking about it.
Lou Goodwin, too.
The pair are already Albury Thunder greats. On Sunday, they could become Group 9 greats.
The Thunder is on the cusp of competition immortality as they prepare to shoot for a hat-trick of premierships against Southcity at Wagga’s Equex Centre this weekend.
Temora (1957-58-59) and Wagga Kangaroos (1999-00-01) are the only other clubs in the league’s decorated history to win three in a row and Davis certainly isn’t hiding from what it would mean to join them on Sunday.
“It would be unbelievable,” Davis said.
“We certainly want to go out with a bang and get another one under the belt because you never know if or when you’ll get there again.
“But we’ve got to get the job done first.”
Alongside close mates Andrew Cowhan and Jake Grace, Davis and Goodwin will have a big say in whether Albury can do just that.
The quartet from Forbes, who first started arriving on the Border in 2011, have been crucial to the Thunder’s success over the past few years.
“On a personal level, it would be awesome to do it with the boys,” Goodwin, 23, said.
“It looks like we’ll all be going our different ways next season and it will most likely be our last ever game together.
“It’s been awesome playing with the Red Bend boys.
“Not just them, but the Albury guys, too.”
But they’re all fully aware of the challenge ahead.
Albury undoubtedly goes into Sunday’s decider as the underdog after dropping its past three matches against the Bulls.
But in the Thunder’s favour is the big stage and the fact that they’ve been there, done that.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who know how to tackle a grand final,” Davis said.
“The experience helps a lot.
“But they’re a really good side and we need to turn up with the right attitude.
“Anything can happen in a grand final and they’re a side you can never count out.
“But we’ll go in with confidence.
“We certainly aren’t cocky, or anything like that, but I know that if we play our best we are good enough to win.”
Davis, who turns 23 next month, is the first to admit he wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told him five years ago he and his mates would be leading a team from Albury in its quest for a premiership three-peat.
“Definitely not,” Davis said with a laugh.
“I suppose life is funny like that, sometimes.
“I’ve loved it. Albury has been great. Not just the club, but the town.
“I’d love to stay but it’s just time to move on and try some different things.”
As for what those different things might be?
“I’ve got no idea yet,” he said. “I’ll go home for a couple of months and work it out from there. I think we’ll leave the club in a good place.
“We’re obviously sad to leave but they’ll be right without us.
“They’ve got some really good players coming through.”
Goodwin, who is also yet to decide on his future, is only worried about Sunday and with good reason.
He knows he might not get a chance like this again.
“It’s hard to get back there,” Goodwin said.
“I didn’t really know how Albury was going to go when I first came down and you just dream of winning one.
“We got knocked out of finals the first year but came back the next year and won it and kept the roll on from there.
“Hopefully we can keep it going. We want to finish on a high.”
And you’ll struggle to convince Goodwin that they won’t.
“They’re a very good side but we are confident that we can win if we stick to our game plan,” he said.
“We have to be at our best.
“I’m pretty excited.”
