IT might seem like a lifetime ago, but the 2019 VFL Women’s premiership is only two seasons back from a trophy perspective. While Essendon won the flag in 2022, the Magpies reached the decider in 2021 to face Geelong, before it was called off due to a Victorian lockdown. A year earlier, the season was cancelled before it had even got going, so now the Magpie are back in the big dance, they are making sure to maximise their opportunity.

“(We’re) just so thrilled that we get the opportunity again,” Magpies skipper Caitlin Bunker said. “We thought we’d have this opportunity a couple of years ago and then four days later after speaking with everybody on a day much like this one, that chance was taken away from us so this means a lot to this group after waiting a few years.”

The group itself is incredibly different to its 2019 cohort, with just four players remaining on the list. That emphasises the amount of change the club and league has gone through over the journey, and Bunker said the feeling around the week was a lot different to that of four years ago.

“That one was quite a different season we were really taking it week by week as we weren’t really sure what was going to happen with Covid,” Bunker said. “Whereas this year we have a little bit more certainty.

“Other than that we’re also quite a different side, we play a different style to what we did back then. I think we have a huge spread of young talent, interstate talent and I think that brings that fresh energy leading into a grand final because there was only four of us back then that were part of that grand final team, so to say we’re excited is an understatement.”

Magpies coach Chloe McMillan said she was “really, really excited” about Sunday and admitted anything could happen. The Magpies sat seventh with three rounds to go, but a strong finish – coupled with an unpredictable set of results – allowed Collingwood to secure its third minor premiership in five years.

“Obviously anything can happen in the season and this is one of the closest and tightest seasons that we’ve had, so to be here after having those conversations in the preseason is pretty exciting,” McMillan said. “Knowing what we had the opportunity to do in 2021 and didn’t quite get there, we’ve making the most of this week and what’s to come.”

While Port Melbourne is entering its first VFL Women’s Grand Final, Collingwood is a seasoned campaigner in that space, with the Magpies preparing for a third overall and – touch wood – second completed grand final since 2019.

“We know what to expect for this week leading up which is really exciting and a really privileged position to be in,” McMillan said. “It feels like we’re going through the same motions again and we’re going to make sure we make the most of it and enjoy every moment of this. We’re one of two teams that play in a grand final and not many players or people get the chance to do so, so we want to make sure we make the most of it and enjoy what’s to come.”

Admitting the evenness of the competition had made it a “challenging year”, it was also a great grounding experience for the Magpies who just focused on each week as it came and addressed the individual games on their own merits.

“We’ve literally, as cliché as it is, we’ve taken it week-by-week and we know the challenges we have with every team this year and we’ve played some really good footy and had some weeks where we’d probably want to have back,” McMillan said. “The resilience of the group and just the ability to want to get to work and to keep pushing with the results we’ve have is just enormous and we finally get to have some success hopefully which would be nice. The group’s been awesome and we’ve worked so hard this year so it’s nice to be in this position.”