OLYMPIC FUELLED BY THE FANS

MA Olympic captain Josh Armit believes it will feel like a lot more than just 11 players on the field when the club runs out for the grand final.

The Mundingburra faithful have become a crucial factor across the finals series, with their unabashed support getting under the skin of rivals and helping the side grow an extra leg.

Armit said his squad would use their supporter base to fuel their shot at redemption after going down in last year’s decider to Saints Eagles South.

“I think definitely in finals anything can happen. If it is anything like semifinals, with the crowd, the first 15 minutes will be hectic,” Armit said.

“It is trying to control or take our chances in that period – anything can happen.

“The times we have struggled is when we get a goal against us early on. If we can wrestle that momentum to us early, we can go from there.

“You have to feed off (the crowd), especially having a lot of teams in the finals. We need to have a good crowd to keep us going for 90 minutes or 120 if it comes to it.”

On the opposite side of the field, Brothers skipper Matt Richards will be doing his best to tune out the noise.

Richards knows how dangerous Mundingburra can be on the ball.

They proved it with a 4-1 demolition of Brothers in the semi-finals. But if his opposition is being fuelled by the raucous crowd, Richards will be digging deep into his well of pain.

He has not forgotten the four goals Olympic put past them in that semifinal and he has not let his troops forget it either.

“It was a tough loss last time, it was a kick in the guts and that will be a driving force for us,” Richards said.

“We spoke after the game, the week after that and the week after that.

“That was punishing and we need to bounce back from that. We definitely picked areas of our game where we got hurt and where we need to improve on. We are going to be ready.”

While they need to stop the Olympic freight train from rolling down Main Street with ease, Richards was adamant his side would not switch their mindset for the final.

They have been an attacking powerhouse this regular season, racking up a competition-high 71 goals.

That does not change in the biggest game of the year.

“(We stop them) with the lot of threats that we have,” he said.

“Both teams have fantastic squads, they won the premiership this year and it is a credit to them, they have been the most consistent team.

“But in terms of squad wise, I love our team and I think we are more than capable of matching them in the final and beating them.

“We are both very attacking teams and there is a lot of physicality there. There will be plenty of opportunities. It is about who can take them.”