The other is sitting 5-9 and out of finals calculations.

But Dom Brew couldn’t be happier with his decision to leave Albury for their cross-town rivals at Bunton Park.

With the green and gold jumper of North Albury, has come greater opportunity for the left-footed tough nut.

Brew, 19, played three senior matches for the Tigers last season but has quickly become a permanent fixture in the Hoppers’ team.

The Ovens and Murray and Victorian Country under-19 representative hasn’t missed a match for North Albury and, along with Dan Leslie and Shaun Mannagh, would be fighting it out for the Hoppers’ best and fairest.

“I’m loving it,” Brew said of his decision to join Jason Akermanis at North Albury.

“It’s the best decision I’ve made.

“I’d like to thank the North Albury footy club and ‘Aker’ and the boys on the operations committee for giving me the chance to prove myself.

“I’ve tried to take my chance with both hands this season.”

Brew was a key player when the Hoppers charged over the top of Wangaratta in April and will need to have another big match if they are to repeat that performance against the Magpies at Bunton Park on Saturday.

The Michael Newton-inspired Magpies have plenty to play for after moving within two points of the top five with a crushing win over Wangaratta Rovers on Sunday.

“They’ve got some big ins, especially their big full-forward who’s kicking a few goals, so we will have to give him a bit of attention,” he said.

“We trust our backline, our backline is pretty solid.

“We’ve played some good footy over the past couple of weeks. Albury was a bit of a blow-out in the end but apart from that, we’ve played some good footy.

“We’re only a young side – our average age is up there with Corowa-Rutherglen, around 20 or something.”