TWO big rivalries, two big finals and two cracking games of footy.
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That’s what is on the menu this weekend.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if they are just the entrees to a couple of main meals in a few weeks’ time.
Hawthorn and Geelong kick things off in the AFL tonight before the Ovens and Murray’s best rivalry fires up at Corowa.
Us Yarrawonga boys love playing against Albury and I’m sure it’s the same for the Cats and Hawks.
There a lot of similarities when you think about it.
They’re both rivalries that have grown over time.
They’re not your traditional ones, like Carlton and Collingwood or Rovers and Wangaratta, but they’ve become the most interesting in the game because of how good the clubs have been.
They are both games everyone has been waiting for.
I love the Cats.
I have no idea why.
It must be because they wear the same jumpers as us, I reckon.
I just love the way Geelong plays its footy and it’s similar to us at Yarrawonga.
It’s not so much about a complicated game plan but about the champions standing up when it counts.
Craig Ednie, Xave Leslie, Tim Cooper and Tyler Bonat are our version of Stevie J, Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel and James Kelly.
Like the Cats, we haven’t done a lot wrong this year but everyone seemed keen to write us off during the year.
But the group has so much pride in its performance we’ve managed to stay up the top.
Albury is similar to the Hawks.
They’ve been in awesome form all season and have got a really good spread of players who use the footy really well.
They’ve got so much talent to work with and they are such a good team.
They get their drive from half back through guys like Dean Polo, Chris Hyde and Daniel Maher and stopping that is going to be huge for us, like it will be for the Cats tonight.
Our game tomorrow is massive.
The week off is so vital and history shows that.
Whoever has won this game the past five years has gone on to win it all.
That’s not to say it can’t be done the other way but it just shows it’s a big advantage.
We haven’t lost a final in three years and we are pretty keen to keep it that way.
Whatever happens, the winner is going to go into their sixth straight grand final, which is an amazing effort for either club.
Albury and the Hawks will go in as favourites but I’m backing the Cats in a ripper tonight.
Hopefully the team wearing the same colours can get the same result tomorrow.