Deer Park has owned the 2014 Western Region Football League season.
Five months ago, the Lions kicked off their reign of dominance with a 65-point smashing of St Albans, and they haven’t looked back.
The star-studded Deer Park finished the home-and-away matches four games clear of their nearest rival and with a whopping percentage of 286.16.
But on the eve of the grand final, there are no signs of complacency.
Deer Park vice-president Matthew Pratt says the club is focused on claiming its second premiership in two years.
“The job isn’t done,” he said. “We’re not patting each other on the back. Our guys are really working on finishing the job.
“That can’t be done until Saturday, so all we can do is really prepare as best we can. We’re just trying to keep everything the same as we have done all year.”
The Lions take on Spotswood at Avalon Airport Oval from 2pm this Saturday.
It isn’t just the lure of back-to-back premierships on the line for Deer Park. The club has the chance to go through the division 1 season undefeated. The Lions are currently sitting at 19-0.
Saturday’s contest will be a rematch of last year’s grand final, which went down as one of the most thrilling in the league’s history.
After trailing by more than 40 points midway through the second quarter, the Lions clawed their way back to hand Spotswood a one-point defeat.
But single-kick margins have been non-existent in the club’s more recent history.
The Lions and Woodsmen have met three times this season, with Deer Park coming out on top by 30 and 21 points in rounds five and 14. But it was a qualifying final belting by 77 points that has the Lions red-hot favourites.
With former AFL talent like Brent Guerra, Bret Thornton and Ryan Houlihan combining with experienced players like Chris Stewart, Heath Ayres and Jackson Barling, Pratt says the club has a host of strong leaders to look to on grand final day.
“We’re very comfortable in the fact that if we don’t have a good quarter or don’t have a good half, we can certainly bounce back from that very quickly.
‘‘Our coaching staff has been phenomenal all year in terms of having our guys prepared and ready to play every week.”
