Sport, as we know, is often stranger than fiction and Kade Brown's story would not look out of place in the pages of a comic strip.
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One of the region's most likeable sporting personalities, he exemplifies the age-old 'footy in winter, cricket in summer' mantra with a body of work stretching back for the best part of 20 years.
Brown's individual attributes have never been in question - after all, he was named Cricketer of the Year in 2014/15 - but few would have believed he'd ever taste the ultimate success with Albury Cricket Club.
Perennial cellar-dwellers and the butt of the odd joke, Albury continued to bumble along despite Brown's flashes of brilliance without ever threatening the established order - until now.
Reaching preliminary finals in each of the last two seasons represented a huge step forward; falling to North Albury both times hurt like hell.
And so it was fitting that when Albury finally took that extra step last weekend, beating Wodonga to reach their first provincial grand final, it was Brown who hit the winning runs when he slapped a full toss to the boundary at Billson Park.
The emotion came pouring out as his team-mates erupted into a roar of delight.
"There was a lot of relief," Brown revealed.
"The last two years have been pretty hard to take.
"The first year when we had it in the bag and somehow lost that and the second year we got ourselves back into it and still managed not to get the chocolates.
"When I went out there, we'd just lost a few wickets so everyone's lipping at you and you just want to smack the ball as far as you can - but you know you can't.
"Nat (Sariman) was really good out there and just said 'let's be here at the end.'
"Once he said that, the mindset changed.
"I was there two years ago against North Albury and I got out with 16 runs left to get.
"I still look back at the shot I played and it doesn't sit well with me that you throw it away when you know you're right on top."
There was a raucous rendition of the team song but Brown hung back.
"I'd prefer to see other people succeed and see the joy in other people than to do it myself," he said.
"It's been a funny one here because back when I first started with Jerim Hayes, I had no choice but to lead and set an example.
"Now, people have said 'righto, let's go with him or even go further than him.'
"The place is going to be set up well after I've gone and hopefully I've had a small part to play in that.
"I don't think I'd say 'I'm finished' but it would be a very easy way to go out!"
Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Brown's season was over. He played in the round 17 win over St Patrick's but then decided to take a step back.
"My personal life was starting to take over," Brown explained.
"My fiancee did her ACL at netball trials so she was walking around on one leg for a while.
"We were lucky enough to win that game but my head wasn't with it and I said to Alex (Popko) 'I don't know how I'm going to keep going with this.'
"But luckily, things have taken a turn.
"I'm a firm believer that if you start something, you've got to finish it and once I'd had a couple of weeks off, I was pretty keen to come back and contribute."
Brown, who marries Emily on Monday, admits splitting his time between work, football, cricket and family has been a challenge.
"It's hard," he said.
"I've really taken a step back with football this year.
"Cricket's such a long day.
"I leave home in Thurgoona at 10:10am and I'm not getting home until 8pm.
"You've got your missus with the kids all day and if she has a bad day, you're not in the good books when you get home.
"I only cricket train once a week, Tuesday is not a good day for us and even on Thursday, when I get down, I'm usually pretty late.
"Family is starting to take over and the sporting side of things is going to start taking a backward step very soon, both footy and cricket.
"That's not saying I won't be a part of it in some way but the full commitment levels will have to take a bit of a step back as the kids get older.
"Jude's four-and-a-half now and he loves coming down here.
"He wouldn't have stopped from 10am until 7pm when he left and we have Lachie who's about 15 months and almost walking, which is pretty cool."
Some players will already be feeling the nerves ahead of Saturday's game but Brown isn't one of them.
"I'll barely be ready by the time it's my turn to bat," he laughed.
"I'll be joking around and barely watching the game.
"I like to make sure cricket's enjoyable.
"If you don't enjoy cricket, it can be a horrible game, standing out in the field when it's 38 degrees.
"The last few weeks we've played a lot on emotion.
"You'd be lying if you said you didn't think about those losses because you do.
"That's just sport.
"Playing on emotion is going to be a really big factor for us on Saturday.
"There's no reason anyone should be scared of North Albury.
"They've lost winnable games and they've lost against sides who haven't played finals so there is an area where we can really take advantage.
"It's pretty unique that we've been able to play in three prelims in a row.
"I've been saying to the group since we started the finals, just appreciate the opportunity.
"I played in two grand finals at North Albury and probably didn't appreciate it too much.
"I thought it was going to happen every year.
"Five years ago, there was talk this club was going to fold so let's appreciate how far we've come."
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