THE competition’s two most successful Division 1 clubs will again fight it out for premiership glory this Saturday, when Heidelberg and Greensborough meet at Preston City Oval in the 2014 Division 1 Grand Final.
Heidelberg heads the league premiership table with 18 Division 1 flags, along with one Division 2 title. Greensborough sits two premierships behind the Tigers, with its 17 premierships consisting of 16 in the top flight.
While each club boasts such a strong and successful history, it is Heidelberg who has been the dominant force in recent years. This Saturday’s match will be the Tigers 10th foray into a Grand Final in 11 seasons.
In that time the club has tasted premiership success on five occasions – in 2004, 06, 07, 08 and 09. However, their three most recent Grand Finals have brought little joy, having lost three consecutive deciders between 2010-12.
After a quarter of a century away from the main stage, Greensborough finally gets the opportunity to return to the big dance. The Boro haven’t appeared in a Division 1 senior Grand Final since 1989, when they smashed Lalor by 11 goals to claim back-to-back premierships.
Season 2014 has marked the re-birth of one of the great rivalries in grassroots football, with two of the competition’s oldest sides fighting it out for the top place on the ladder for much of the 18-round regular season.
It has been a remarkable achievement by both to reach the Grand Final, with both sides overcoming great odds to make it through to the last Saturday of the 2014 season.
Despite the return of two-time premiership coach Craig Hunter, most predicted a slide down the ladder for Heidelberg this season following a mass exodus at the conclusion of a disappointing 2013 finals campaign.
Amongst the departures were club legends Dale and Danny Nolan, Justin Murphy, Mark Favrin, Josh Houlihan, Jess Sinclair and Michael Gay. Meanwhile, highly-rated players Jamie Allan, Mark Lynch and Lance Oswald all opted not to extend their stay at Warringal Park beyond one season.
The by-product was expected to be a fall from grace for the competition’s powerhouse side. However, 2014 has been anything but for the boys from Tigerland.
With the inclusion of key recruits Paul Bower and Charles Gaylard and the emergence of the club’s next crop of stars, Heidelberg has been the best performed side in 2014.
15 wins in the home and away season provided the Tigers their first minor premiership since 2010, before a come-from-behind win over Greensborough in the second semi final handed the club the first place in this year’s Grand Final.
Heidelberg’s success has been built on the back of an exceptional work rate and resolute defence. The Tigers conceded just 1134 points in the regular season, at an average of just 63 points per match.
By comparison, reigning premier Bundoora conceded 1449 points in the 2013 home and away season, while Northcote Park also conceded more than 1400 points in their premiership year of 2012.
“We really focused at the start of the year on the defensive side of the game with so many young guys in the side,” coach Craig Hunter said in the lead up to Saturday’s decider.
“The natural instinct of youngsters is that they can all attack but we were really conscious of being defensively focused.
“That’s certainly helped us get to the position we’re in now and was a real focus in the pre-season, to have a really sound defence not just within the back six but right across the field.”
The back six has been led superbly by captain Jason Kennedy, while Ben Cosgriff has made an outstanding return after an injury-plagued 2013. Meanwhile, the emergence of Aaron Crispe has also strengthened the Tigers’ defensive unit.
All three will have important roles on Saturday with Greensborough’s in-form forward line set to be bolstered by the return of club leading goal kicker Tim Bongetti – who has missed the past four matches through suspension.
Despite Heidelberg’s defensive intent, the club does boast a more than capable forward line, headlined by Jordan Treloar.
The mobile tall has been in red-hot form over the second half of the season and leads the club’s goal kicking with 30 majors, including 15 over his past six matches.
Chaz Sargeant will return for the Grand Final in what will be his first senior appearance since sustaining an injury in the Round 15 loss to Montmorency.
Sargeant booted three goals in his only appearance against Greensborough this season and was best afield in his return match in the reserves a fortnight ago.
If the Tigers did require any additional motivation before the Grand Final, they’d need look no further than club legend Blair Harvey – who earlier in the year announced that 2014 would likely be his last season as a player.
The captain of Heidelberg’s Team of the Decade, Harvey will be looking for a sixth premiership medallion in what shapes as the final game of his highly decorated career.
Similar to his counterpart, Robert Hyde will also be looking to coach his club to a third premiership, albeit some 30 years after taking Greesnborough to back-to-back flags in 1983-84.
If the Boro were to take out the premiership on Saturday it would be one of the club’s greatest success stories, just 12 months after fighting out the 2013 relegation battle with Epping and Lower Plenty.
Hyde’s effort to get the Boro to the premiership decider have not gone unnoticed and culminated in him winning the 2014 Northern Region Senior Coach of the Year as adjudged by the Northern branch of the Australian Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
Similar to Heidelberg’s rise this season, much of Greensborough’s improvement has come from within, with many former middle-tier players emerging into very solid senior players.
After spending much of last year in the reserves, Jason Rogers has been a revelation this season and is a leading contender for the club’s best and fairest.
He sits fourth in the club’s goal kicking table, behind only Tim Bongetti, Rhys Boyden and Josh Grubb and has been named Greensborough’s best in both its finals wins over Montmorency and Macleod.
Matthew Fowler, Brent Ryan and Liam Emery have all taken their games to another level, while Ricky Mullins has offered plenty of grunt in the midfield after spending time in the reserves in 2013.
The club’s three main signings in the off-season – Michael Hooper, Dan McLinden and Andrew Stellas – have delivered more than the club could ever have imagined.
Hooper has been arguably the best ruckman in the competition this year and is a constant threat all over the ground. He has been listed in the Boro’s best in 15 of his 21 matches and has also managed to boot 16 goals throughout the year. His battle against Michael Finn is one of the key match-ups this Saturday.
Along with co-captain Matthew Hyde, defender McLinden has been a general in defence, locking down on the opposition’s best forward whilst also offering drive from defensive 50m. His high-flying marking has also been a feature throughout the season.
In the forward half, Andrew Stellas has offered versatility and a good foil to the club’s permanent tall forwards, Bongetti and Boyden. He has flourished at the Boro after limited opportunities with Bundoora last year and has offered a strong target while Bongetti has been missing in recent weeks.
The return of Bongetti this week will only strengthen Greensborough’s forward unit. The Boro co-captain has enjoyed his most fruitful season since returning to the competition in 2011, booting 62 goals in 17 matches.
His timely return comes just a week after Boyden’s best haul of the season, a five-goal effort as the Boro downed Macleod in last Sunday’s preliminary final.
While little has separated the sides in 2014, Heidelberg has had the better of Greensborough in all three matches this year, including the second semi final a fortnight ago.
In that most recent encounter, the Tigers had to overcome a 17-point deficit midway through the last quarter to win by 15 points. Paul Bower, Charles Gaylard and the Hodgkins were best in that win.
Greensborough’s tally of 11.11 (77) that day was the equal third highest score recorded against Heidelberg this season.
During the regular season the Tigers recorded eight and 21-point wins over the Boro, results which ensurec they held on to first place on the ladder.
RADIO: A live radio broadcast of the Division 1 Grand Final between Heidelberg and Greensborough can be heard on 88.6 Plenty Valley FM from 2:15pm on Saturday.
DOWNLOAD: A high-definition digital download of the game can be purchased at 
www.northernfl.tv from Thursday. The price of the digital copy is $20.
