The one player remaining from Melbourne City's two sets of "Invincibles", captain Rebekah Stott says winning a sixth A-League Women grand final would be particularly special.
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Stott has four championships with City to her name: the three-peat between 2015 and 2018, plus the 2019-20 title, including going unbeaten in the first and fourth titles, plus another with Brisbane Roar.
She can add to her decorated resume with victory against Sydney FC, with both clubs chasing a record fifth championship, in Saturday's decider at AAMI Park.
"It would be so cool. To come back home to Melbourne City and to be able to win the championship along with the premiership would be so special to me and this group of girls really deserve it," Stott said.
"We've worked hard all season. So it'd be incredible.
"I was here for the first year of City and I've been here for so long. It's just an amazing club. The facilities we get, the care we get from the club, it's just second-to-none. So it's home to me.
But after City underwent monumental change, with Matildas stars like Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Emily van Egmond and Kyah Simon moving on, this is a rejuvenated squad's - bar fellow veteran Melissa Barbieri - first crack at the biggest stage.
"The whole league's had to kind of shift with a lot of the players going overseas," Stott said.
"But the amount of talent we have in our squad is just incredible.
"And to see these young players playing the way we do. It's so cool to see and I'm so happy to be part of it."
For Stott, Saturday's game is also her first grand final since she was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin's lymphoma in March 2021.
"For me, getting back to this level has been so hard but so special," Stott, who is in complete remission, said.
"So to win a grand final I think would make it even more special.
"It would just be everything."
The game will be a standalone fixture, with hopes of a bumper crowd.
"To see the stadium full is a dream come true. That's why we play, to impress the fans," Stott said.
"To get a massive fan base here, and to hopefully break the record for a grand final, would be incredible. So we just hope everyone can come out on Saturday and really get behind us.
"It will be aggressive. There'll be lots of tackles flying in, I'm sure - it's a grand final. Bodies on the line.
"But we hope to control the game. So they'll hopefully see a very nice style of football and they can come up and meet us as well.
"We will play the way we've been playing the whole season, play some beautiful football and hopefully score some goals and make it a very entertaining evening."
Australian Associated Press
