Eight of the past ten A-League Men’s Grand Finals have featured either Melbourne City or Melbourne Victory, and this Saturday will feature both for the first time as the competition rounds out its 20th season.

It’s also a rare occasion in which the regular season Premiers won’t feature, with run-away winners Auckland FC rolled by the Victory in the second-leg of their semi-final last week. It was the latest result in a remarkable run of form against the odds by the Victory, who finished fifth after early-season turbulence saw unheralded manager Arthur Diles replace Patrick Kisnorbo.

‘It’s been an odd season for them, let’s be honest, so the fact they’re still in there fighting is testament not just to their quality, but to their resilience as well’, said Simon Hill, as he prepares to call his final A-Leagues match after over two decades behind the mic in Australia..

‘Not many gave them much of a chance heading to Auckland for the second leg – I certainly didn’t, I thought Auckland would win quite comfortably – but they showed great spirit, organisation, and in the end limited a very good side that had romped to the Premiership to very few chances.’

The decisive goal was belted in by Bruno Fornaroli, reinstated to the starting line-up by Diles having fallen behind Nikos Vergos in the pecking order for much of the season’s back-half. The Uruguayan’s 113 national league goals across three clubs since moving to Australia in 2015, and seven Socceroos caps since naturalising, speak to the imprint he’s made on the league.

At thirty-seven and coming out of contract with Victory, nobody is as desperate to add an elusive Championship as El Tuna himself. That this opportunity comes against City, where he was adored but fell out with then-manager Warren Joyce and left for Perth, adds an extra touch of spice.

‘Form is temporary, class is permanent, and Bruno has that in him, to score big goals in big games. I’m sure he’ll have a big part to play. Whether he starts or Vergos, I don’t know, but Bruno’s been a terrific striker for this league, a great personality for this competition, and it would be nice to see him go out with a winners’ medal’, said Hill.

‘He might get one more go at it next year. I see there’s a big rumour linking him with a move back to Perth Glory – it would take a big turnaround for them to win it from where they were this season – so this might be his last crack at it.’

For City, a win would go a long way towards amending their poor Grand Final record. From 2020-2023 the played in four consecutive deciders (three times entering as Premiers) but only won once, and in 2023 were embarrassed by the Mariners 6-1.

Aurelio Vidmar’s second-coming as an A-League manager has been understated but highly effective,, finishing second in spite of constant injuries and the lack of superstar name the club is capable of attracting, but hasn’t. Almost fourteen years after leaving Adelaide United, which for a long time looked to be the end of his A-League managerial career, he has the chance to make his biggest statement of all.

‘Aurelio’s done a terrific job at City. He was only there last season as interim, officially, after taking over from Rado Vidosic. They only just scraped into finals and lost to Victory on penalties. This year would probably be the most satisfying because they’ve had so many injuries; I’ve never known a club to suffer from so many first team players out for such lengthy periods.

‘Their academy has stood them in good stead, those young kids have stepped up when they needed to. Some of those established stars are now back, so they’re a strong side, City.

‘Bizarrely, they haven’t won any of the last eight Melbourne Derbies, but I feel they’re on a slightly better run of form at the moment – eight unbeaten, and I think they go into this one as slight favourites.

‘When you can bring Mat Leckie off the bench, with 78 caps for his country, that’s testament to the depth Viddie has got, and he deserves a lot of plaudits for what he’s done this season, given those injuries.’