It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Sale Football-Netball Club is all set to take part in the Gippsland League Grand Final tomorrow.

The Magpies have senior and reserves football teams in the decider, along with all three junior netball grades.

An army of black and white supporters is expected to make their way to Ted Summerton Reserve, and will be eager to head home from Moe with five premiership cups in hand.

Just one more sleep remains until the big day. With the big day comes the heightened sense of importance; the preparation from coaches, done with almost military precision; and the demands of logistics as club officials coordinate hordes of people.

Sale appears to have everything in place from an organisational perspective, and at football training on Tuesday night, there was an undeniable sense of calmness about what was to come.

The players arrived for a review of the senior preliminary final win over Wonthaggi, before taking part in a light session.

Dual Gippsland League MVP Shannen Lange, sporting a decent shiner, was there, as was Kane Martin, heard being referred to as ‘the great Kane Martin’.

It is hard to doubt his greatness. He has played more than 200 senior games and kicked more than 200 senior goals as a midfielder.

Past president Scott Pearce watched on. It has been a decade since Pearce oversaw the Magpies’ last senior flag. He will surely be happy to pass on the mantle of premiership president to current leader Simon Turnbull.

Daine McGuiness is set to play his 50th senior game in the Grand Final. Brad Dessent will join brother Jordan and sister Tori as Sale senior/A Grade premiership players if the Magpies get up tomorrow.

If body language is anything to go by, the Magpies are more than happy to run with the underdog status.

The seniors are up against a Leongatha side that has the longest winning streak in the state; the reserves are up against a Leongatha said that would beat a lot of current senior teams.

Magpies playing-coach Jack Johnstone said his team had no fears about the game.

“A lot of guys are still pinching themselves that it is here,” he said. “The season has been a bit of a snowball, started pretty slow; we were both 0-2 after Wonthaggi-Leongatha. Since then the season has just gained momentum the longer it has gone on. Right now the place is an absolute buzz.

“We have been carrying that title (underdogs) all finals series since we lost that first final. It suits us a bit more now that both teams are the underdogs; the whole place is in unity with that narrative.”

Johnstone will bring no shortage of Grand Final experience, having played in a number of deciders with Maffra and Williamstown in the VFL.

“It is footy on steroids pretty much,” Johnstone said of Grand Finals. “Every moment is so important, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of outside noise, the build-up is different, a lot of media attention, things that blokes aren’t use to, and then the game is on another level.”

Sale has a few players in Martin, Chris Laverty and Ryan Pendlebury with similar experience, and Johnstone said an important element of Grand Final week had been to strike the balance between celebration and focus.

“Just stay in the moment. What both teams have been able to achieve shouldn’t be brushed aside,” he said.

“Enjoy the week for what it is, but come tonight (Tuesday training) it is all business. Enjoy the week, enjoy the build-up, don’t change too much, go through your weekly routine, get your body right.

“This group is so adaptable, I have complete confidence even for a Grand Final, they are going to go and execute and perform their roles.”

Emotions aside, Johnstone was under no illusions about the challenge Leongatha presents.

“They are almost the unbeatable team at the moment,” he said. “We like to attack team’s venerability but Leongatha don’t really have any. The margin for error is pretty low, but if we can bring our game style for four quarters we are an absolute chance.

“‘Bite down’ is a term we use here, after my favourite UFC fighter Tai Tui. If you hear the boys screaming ‘bite down’ it just means bite down on the mouthguard and compete ferociously.”

When asked if there was a reason why Sale had made it this far, Johnstone pointed to a strong sense of community purpose.

“Accumulation of small things, which has enhanced the club’s culture, that is all I can pretty much put it down to,” he said.

“Behind the scenes, the work some people have done to get people in, whether they are a player, trainer, past player, volunteer – the Sale Footy Club is somewhere people want to be right now and I think that has stemmed from the reserves’ success and therefore the seniors as well.

“They are all motivating each other to keep going and win. The club hasn’t seen that for a while in the reserves, it just adds that bit of extra feeling.”

Ultimately, the Magpies have created a club in the truest sense, rather than just a general assembly of people.

That club is now just one win away from adding to a history of football in Gippsland’s oldest city.

With that, there appears to only be one thing left to say.

#carnSale