Albury’s Josh Mellington will look to become the first player in almost two decades to kick a second successive century of goals.
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Mellington has 96, from just 13 games, heading into Saturday’s grand final against Wangaratta at the Lavington Sportsground.
Lavington’s Chris Stuhldreier kicked three straight from 1996.
“If we keep Josh quiet, that will go a long way to winning the game,” Wangaratta captain Michael Newton said.
“He was the difference last time we played them, he kicked six goals.”
Newton finished second in the Doug Strang Medal and heads into the decider with 66, averaging 4.4 per game.
Mellington boasts 7.38.
“What he’s achieved this year is something special from an individual perspective, to miss the first six games and perform the way he did,” Newton said.
The prospect of former Fremantle forward Mellington and ex-Melbourne high-flyer Newton at opposite ends has added an edge to the decider only rivalled by Brendan Fevola and Setanta O’hAilpin at Yarrawonga and Albury respectively in 2014.
That kick-started Albury’s current run of premierships and it will look to equal the league record of four straight flags, held by St Patricks (1921-24) and Wangaratta (1949-52).
The Tigers replaced Wangaratta as the powerhouse, following the Pies’ successive flags in 2007-08.
Siblings Judd and Daine Porter are the only players left.
Newton has been cleared of a long-running hamstring complaint, but gave an interesting insight into his, eventual, unavailability for the preliminary final win over Yarrawonga.
“We played a pretty straight bat last week to try and bluff the opposition, (I) wasn’t really a chance of playing,” he admitted.
Pies’ fans will be hoping he has recovered quickly as there’s a perception the Pies most dangerous forward will need to explode to cause an upset, a la Brendan Fevola, who kicked 15 goals in three deciders against Albury.
“I don’t think I’m … the difference between winning and losing,” Newton said.
History shows Newton could be right too as Fevola is the only player to kick seven goals against the Tigers in their four-year domination.
The Tigers are adamant Daniel Cross and Luke Packer have overcome their respective calf and hamstring injuries.
Albury has won all three matches, but they weren’t ferociously physical.
“In the first one or two minutes, we hope that we will let the game go and … don’t have any influence,” AFL North East Border field umpires’ Shane Downie said.