Wodonga will host North Albury on Saturday in the final T20 round, with the winner likely to face Lavington in the grand final on January 27.
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The pair boasts arguably the association’s best rivalry, playing four crackerjack finals in the past decade.
2008-09 GF
Wodonga 9-276 (Jackson 78, Daniel 5-91; North 4-279 Farrell 167no)
“You always knew that you were in for a fight when you played Wodonga,” North wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Warren said.
“Robbie Jackson and ‘Gibbo’ (coach Andy Gibson) and (Tim) Williamson, they all built into that rivalry.”
“It was like a footy atmosphere grand final (at Xavier Oval).
“Obviously Wodonga’s got the big following with the footy club and they had their footy boys come to the cricket, we ended up asking the North Albury boys if they could come over and give us a hand just to make it as even as much as we could.
“They used to warm up for an hour and 15 minutes, we used to try and bluff them and only warm up for 15-20 minutes, just to try and say we don’t really care, but of course we did.
“Dave Castello and Rod Barton tried to get the upper hand on Robbie Jackson all the time, so we had mind games as well when we used to play them.
“It (David Farrell’s innings) was the best innings I’ve ever seen (in CAW).
“I remember Tim Kennedy at the top of his powers and I remember (Farrell) just cover driving him.
“They had two extra covers and a deep cover, he was still managing to find the boundary.”
2009-10 GF
Wodonga 8-296 (Jackson 92, Daniel 4-110; North 279 Hansford 58, Barton 58, Roberts 4-49)
“I remember Robbie Jackson’s knock, it was pretty top class,” Wodonga opening batsman Dylan Beattie said.
It was like a footy atmosphere grand final (at Xavier Oval). Obviously Wodonga’s got the big following with the footy club and they had their footy boys come to the cricket, we ended up asking the North Albury boys if they could come over and give us a hand just to make it as even as much as we could. They used to warm up for an hour and 15 minutes, we used to try and bluff them and only warm up for 15-20 minutes. Dave Castello and Rod Barton tried to get the upper hand on Robbie Jackson all the time, so we had mind games as well when we used to play them.
- Josh Warren (North Albury 2008-09)
“He and young Kieren Schulz (put on 101 for the third wicket) batted really well.
“I remember that last run out when Kieren Schulz threw to Tim Kennedy and got (Josh) Mallichan out, he slipped over and Tim ran in and took the bails off.
“Having Tim and Robbie in the one side was huge, Robbie got everyone to buy in, he and Tim were massive in that area.
“We were just about relegated (in 2007-08) and not only was Tim the captain for the next year when we made the grand final, he also took the pre-season.
“It was like a football pre-season, we were doing time trials and running and Robbie implemented that the year we won it as well.
“Even though we were a talented side (in 2009-10), we trained bloody hard, I’ll tell you that much.”
2016-17 PF
Wodonga 212 (Berg 52, Addison 3-45; North 195 Borella 63, Simmons 56, Craig 7-60)
“A lot of boys thought we were done, it (the comeback) started with a bit of special work from Leo McGhee,” all-rounder Jack Craig said.
“Nothing was working and Leo got a run out (Tom Hemsley) and then came on to bowl and took two-for, he got ‘Faz’ (David Farrell) and Ash Borella, so he got two big wickets.
“It was a heated game, I wouldn’t say over the top, it was in the spirit of the game, but everybody was out to win.
“The wicket was just too good, it was classic Bunton Park, you got absolutely nothing out of it as a pace bowler.
“That was in the days when I started bowling pace and then went to spin.
“I had a plan, I had to keep varying my pace and it looked to me, from what I can remember, all the batsmen just wanted to finish it.
“They only needed 100, 70, 50 and I kept changing my pace, I got a lot of catches (six of the seven wickets), I’d flight one up and they’d try and smack it.
“It was pretty scary to do because they didn’t need that many runs, they could get hit for six easily.”
2017-18 PF
Wodonga 152 (Gilbee 43no, Craig 42, Purtell 4-26; North 5-154 Daniel 49no)
“I remember it was touch and go for a bit early, they dropped a catch and that proved crucial,” North all-rounder Greg Daniel said.
“John (Purtell) came on and went bang, bang, bang, those wickets were the difference between chasing 220 to 150.”
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