THEY say that history is the best predictor of the future.
Exactly 10 years ago, Irymple finished a clear first on the top of the ladder and Wentworth came second in the SFNL senior football competition.
In the second semi-final, it was Irymple who prevailed and moved straight into the grand final with Wentworth having to go the long way.
However, it was a different story in the grand final. The favourites, Irymple, had lowered their guard and let the cup slip out of its hands with Wentworth walking away victorious.
Fast forward to 2022 and the much-anticipated and long-awaited grand final is nearly here.
Finally, Irymple get to defend their crown after two seasons with no ending.
Wentworth, on the other hand, have reinvented themselves from a club on the rise to a club that is now here and ready.
Will history repeat itself and have the side come the long way around and win in Irymple, or will Wentworth be looking to emulate the 2012 side and join them every 10 years with their own reunion?
The second semi-final proved to everyone, including themselves, that Wentworth are the real deal.
They found their mojo and confidence and came out breathing fire from the first bounce.
Irymple, though, still missed their chances on the day and with more accurate kicking from their forwards and, in particular, their superstar Nick Mee, they still could have walked away with the win.
On Saturday, Irymple proved that they are worthy of the big stage, they had a mix of youth and experience in their better players and no real passengers.
The only real story this week is if Nathan Hamence (calf) will come up well enough to play. The former McLeod Medallist will be doing everything he can to have another shot which may well be his last shot at premiership glory.
If Hamence is declared fit, it will be a very tough choice for the coaching staff to make on who will make way for him.
Dan Coghlan will be better for the run last week and the dominance of Nick Mee will give the Swallows fans great confidence for the big day.
Irymple and Wentworth are a mirror of each other, Irymple have been a club built on the strongest of cultures both on and off the field over the past 10 years and have enjoyed success in both football and netball in nearly all grades nearly every year.
Wentworth are now the club on the rise with a similar culture taking place both on and off the field with both football and netball.
Wentworth, like Irymple, have invested heavily in their facilities, have cultivated strong junior talent and only recruited the type of player they needed and not recruited just for the sake of recruiting.
Both clubs have a mixture of youth and experience. Names like Sam Cumming, Tom Sapuppo and Harper Curran have stood tall for the Roos this year. For Irymple, Connor Mensch, Alex Hollingworth and Justin Robinson have all made names for themselves.
In the experienced category, Wentworth have had stalwarts such as Andy Wall, James Nunan, Nick Jensen and Matt Cameron wind the clocks back. At Irymple, the older brigade has been well served by the likes of Nathan Hamence, Ash Kempton and Michael Condidorio.
Both have experience in the middle, both have serious goal-scoring power up forward and well settled backlines.
Both teams have the perfect mix of youth and experience and both are very well structured with a definitive game plan.
These two teams are no doubt the best teams in the competition and are very strong, healthy clubs off the field. So when we talk about premierships being won off the field, these two clubs epitomise what it means and both clubs should be incredibly proud to show the rest of the competition what type of success is bred on the ground when you get the club in the right position off the ground.
So I take my hat off to both clubs and their committees for investing so heavily in getting the right people in the right places for them to both have a chance at winning the coveted premiership cup this weekend.
Whatever the result, it is great to see two strong clubs and sides battle it out at the new sporting in precinct. In a way, this feels like a new beginning of sorts for the SFNL.
