Not since 2012 have the Mudgee Wolves been crowned kings of the Bathurst District Football men’s Premier League.
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On that day six years ago, Wolves prevailed against City Colts.
But now they’re looking to end their six-year drought against a team who haven’t even won a first grade title.
Panorama, who was founded in 2012, are regarded as one of the biggest clubs in Bathurst, in regards to player registrations.
Wolves solid run to the grand final has been on the back of three hour round trips to Bathurst almost every second weekend and having to play their “home” preliminary final in Bathurst against Abercrombie Navy.
Their incredible run to the decider hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Panorama Red captain Brent Osborne labelling Wolves effort as “phenomenal”.
“It’s been an amazing effort from Mudgee,” he said.
“They had a good year last year but they finished around mid-table. Where they’ve come from this year has been phenomenal.
“We’ve lost two games and I think they’ve only lost two games as well. We only finished two points above them on the ladder.
“They’ve got a really good team but they’ve got to travel a lot of more than others, so that makes it difficult for them but also makes their run even more incredible.”
The last time the two teams met, in Bathurst, Panorama Red, who finished the regular season as minor premiers, came away with a 4-0 victory.
However, in the opening round of the season, in Mudgee, the Wolves snagged a 1-0 win.
Osborne knows his side cannot afford to be down at half-time, similar to how Panorama trialled 2-0 against CSU White last Sunday.
“Mudgee are a hard team to beat,” he said.
“They play a simple brand of football and they defend really well. While they defend really well, they don’t score many goals.
“They look to score early or jag one somewhere in the game and defend it out.
“The aim is to start well and hopefully if we can put a couple in the back of the net early, that’ll be key to moving on and taking the game.
“We need to be strong defensively but If we do what we did last week and give up a two goal buffer, I think it’ll be a big task to come back and get the win against Mudgee.”
Kick-off for the match is at 5pm on Sunday afternoon, at Proctor Park 1.
Panorama will also have its women’s side chasing grand final glory at 3pm on the same day.
Mudgee have two teams in grand finals – in women’s second grade at 1pm and in men’s third grade at 11am.
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