Group 20
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WEST Wyalong president Mark Cafe says his club's first and reserve grade Group 20 teams will enter town folklore if they complete perfect seasons on Sunday.
The Mallee Men haven't been beaten in the senior grades this year and head into the premiership deciders against Waratahs (first grade) and Griffith Black and Whites (reserve grade) at EW Moore Oval as raging favourites.
Cafe said the club had the chance to make history.
"Seventeen from 17 is remarkable," he said.
"I stressed upon the players this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. These feats will hardly happen again.
"But they need to make sure it's 18 from 18, otherwise no one will remember what they've done.
"A lot of the older blokes in the community are already comparing them to the great teams of the past.
"Their destiny is in front of them. If they can get 18 out of 18, they'll be remembered as one of the best teams this town has produced, both first and reserve grade."
Cafe said the club's outstanding depth ensured both teams produced their best week-in, week-out.
"At West Wyalong we have a strong community of football and a strong group of first and reserve graders," he said.
"They push each other for positions.
"We've got players of first-grade calibre in reserve grade, but they can't make their way into the first team."
Cafe said experience had also played a huge part in the Mallee Men's unbeaten run.
"We're an older team. Some people look at that as a negative, but we look at it as a strength," he said.
"With experience, you can't breed it overnight. It takes time to do that.
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"The boys also have a winning mindset. These guys are all winners.
"They've won premierships the last five or six years on and off. That winning culture is very hard to manufacture."
West Wyalong's league tag team also knows a thing or two about success and will attempt to defend its premiership against Leeton on Sunday.
Cafe said the league tag girls took a while to warm into their campaign.
"Last year they played like a team that wanted the premiership," he said.
"This year, for the first half of the year, they didn't really understand the enormity of being the reigning premier.
"It was only late in the second half of the year they grasped the concept and really came home.
"Now they've got a lot of momentum."