Locals on big stage

ANOTHER Friday, another door-die clash for the Cats.

Last week the football world barely gave Geelong a chance. This week the test is just as challenging.

But if this year’s Cats have proven anything, it’s that they are able to produce some of their best performances when their backs are against the wall.

Today, fans are making the pilgrimage by bus, car and aeroplane into enemy territory. The imposing home ground advantage that has so often worked in the Cats’ favour at Simonds Stadium, will be a key weapon in the opposition’s arsenal, and Adelaide fans are not known for welcoming visiting teams.

But with so much on the line — and last week’s performance showing the football world just what they are capable of — there should be plenty for Cats fans to cheer about tonight.

The Cats are not the only Geelong team striving for glory this weekend.

A group of our region’s most talented young footballers will play for premiership glory — as well as potentially their future careers — in the TAC Cup Grand Final on Sunday.

It has been 17 years since the Geelong Falcons tasted premiership success in football’s premier under-18 competition. The premiers of 2000 included Jimmy Bartel and Luke Hodge. This Sunday, every member of the team that takes to the field at Etihad Stadium will dream of careers as successful as theirs.

The Geelong Falcons has proven to be one of the best incubators of young football talent in the country. The list of AFL draftees to come out of the famed “football factory” is long and impressive. With draft competition so fierce, a good performance on Sunday could literally make the difference in many players’ future career prospects. Playing at prime time, on one of football’s major grounds, could be a pivotal point in their careers.

It will be exciting to see the Bartel, Hodge and Abletts of tomorrow take to the field on Sunday night. Hopefully they can replicate the feats of those who came before them and bring home the silverware.