RHYAN Grant rates his A-League debut in December 2008 against Perth Glory as one of the biggest moments of his professional footballing career and now, 11 years later, he faces the same team in the grand final.
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The Sydney FC defender will line up at Optus Stadium on Sunday against Glory in what shapes as an epic battle for 2018-19 bragging rights.
Winning a A-League grand final inter-state is no easy task - it has only been done twice in the history of the competition - but Grant is hopeful Sydney FC can get the better of Glory.
Certainly it is expected to be closer than the 4-1 loss the sky blues suffered on the day Grant made his A-League debut.
"I think, obviously, it will probably be our biggest challenge," Grant said of playing on Glory's turf.
"We've had some good results against Perth this year, so we'll take a lot of confidence out of that."
Sydney FC qualified for the decider with an impressive 6-1 win over defending premiers Melbourne Victory last weekend, Grant playing 71 minutes.
The Bathurst District Football graduate agreed it was their most complete performance of the season, but felt they could still have done better.
"Even that first half I don't think we actually played the best football we have," Grant said.
The last time Grant played in a grand final was in season 2016-17, a match in which he scored as Sydney FC beat Melbourne Victory.
Meanwhile, the Western NSW Mariners FC will be chasing back-to-back National Premier Leagues 3 wins this Saturday when they return to Proctor Park.
Western NSW Mariners return to Proctor Park this Saturday as they go head to head with Camden Tigers FC at 4pm.
Mark Rooke's men head into the clash on the back of a morale boosting 4-3 win over Sydney University - a performance NPL3 pundits rate 'one of the best contests that we will see in the league this year'.
Camden has not won for over a month and should the Mariners get the better of them in Bathurst, will leapfrog the Tigers on the competition ladder.
Kick-off is at 4pm.