EVERYONE knows how the saying goes – the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
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It’s probably the last thing Brock-Burrum brothers Liam and Ryan Johnson want to hear.
After playing together at Lavington for a number of years, the teammates became adversaries when they switched to the Hume league.
Liam went to the Saints, Ryan the Murray Magpies.
Fast-forward a couple of years and Liam, now captain, had convinced his brother to join him at Brock-Burrum at the start of 2016.
Everything was going well; the Saints dominated during the season, losing just one game and charging into the grand final.
But the fairytale wouldn’t come true for the Johnson boys this year.
Ryan broke down with a back injury roughly a month ago.
Getting up for the grand final would mean risking doing more damage, leaving Liam understandably disappointed.
“It has been a bit disappointing, playing without him,” he said.
“He’s been huge for us in the backline this year, he’s extremely reliable.
“It was great knowing that he was there on the field with us.
“But at the same time, we’re sort of playing for him a little bit as well.”
In any case, this year’s setback will only motivate the duo to go around again next year for, if Saturday transpires the way Saints fans hope it will, a third successive flag.
The duo come from good stock – their father David played for North Albury before winning two best-and-fairests for Walla.
Liam has a little bit of extra responsibility on Saturday as well, having taken on the captaincy.
Though admitting he was slightly edgy ahead of the decider, Liam said he would find a way to harness that nervous energy.
“You can't afford to get overwhelmed,” he said.
“We'll approach Jindera the same way we would any other game, we aren't going to go away from anything we've done throughout the year.”