On the eve of the Bendigo Bank Cats premiership-deciding clash against Coburg, Nick Wade and Leigh Tudor discuss the big issues of VFL grand final week.

Nick Wade (NW): We’ve spoken a lot this year about the winning culture at the club across both teams. That must really help the players who come into to the VFL side throughout the year.

Leigh Tudor (LT): It’s been really good all year. The VFL boys that have come in have stepped up to the mark straight away, which has been the best thing about the year. Any injury we’ve had throughout the year we’ve been able to cover with the VFL players, so they’ve been a really important part of our side this year and they will be again on grand final day.

NW: The players have taken a lot of ownership this year of the way they play. At three-quarter-time last week there was no tongue-lashing, they just needed to ‘talk footy’, so they took it upon themselves to rectify them problem. It’s been like that all year.

LT: Exactly. We just made sure that the 22 out there knew exactly what their role was and how they were going to go about the game. All we’ve done all year is made sure we’ve got 22 players who know their role and play their role.

NW: This year the side’s fitness has been well-documented. Obviously our supreme fitness puts us ahead of the VFL clubs, who don’t have the same levels of fitness.

LT: We started off with 45 players this year and ‘Stoofa’, Steven Lewry, he runs our fitness in the VFL, I’ve got no doubt this has been the fittest our VFL team has been all year. Tom Van Kalken has helped him this year doing a bit of rehab work, so we’ve had the best of both worlds with the AFL fitness and the VFL fitness. So the club as a whole is extremely fit this year.

NW: The VFL-listed players this year have been fantastic - they really deserve a wrap. Players like Jay Cheep and Scott Thompson have been up there every week, but players like Chris Urie and Jack Hollmer have come to the club and done well.

LT: Hollmer and Urie, it’s their first year, so to play the number of games they have is a credit to them. They’ve worked really hard, they’ve come in and embraced the Geelong culture and tried to work really hard every week. It’s not just them, but Matt Firman, Cheep – they follow James Byrne, he’s an awesome leader of the club. When the boys see how hard James Byrne works they just want to follow him, so he sets the example and the boys follow him and work hard.

NW: Speaking of James Byrne, the JJ Liston Trophy was a fantastic reward for his efforts over the course of his tenure at the club.

LT: He’s just a brilliant captain for the club, he’s got the respect of the AFL players, the VFL players look up to him because they work with him and they see how hard he works. He’s forever with our fitness trainer doing more work after training, so it’s been a fantastic week for the footy club for him to get the medal the group was really happy.

NW: Jay Cheep and Scott Thompson, what are their chances of coming into consideration for a rookie place on an AFL list? Not necessarily at Geelong, but one of the 15 other clubs, because they’ve played well all season in arguably the second best competition going around.

LT: They’re playing good VFL football and they’re young, so they’re giving themselves every possible chance. At Geelong Football Club we haven’t spoken about that yet, but they’re putting their foot in the right spot because they’re young and they’re playing good footy at a very high standard, so they’re both throwing their names out there.

NW: Players like Ryan Gamble and Trent West will have now played in two grand finals in two years. That grounding of experience must hold those players in tremendous stead for their futures.

LT: You would like to think so. I think the VFL finals are probably as close as you will get to an AFL game as anywhere, so to play well in finals, you’re stocks go up I suppose if you’re playing good footy in finals.

NW: Stephen Owen played in last year’s grand final and played most of this year before injuring his knee. Is there going to be any extra motivation to win it for him, given he would have been a member of the side?

LT: The guys who played last year and lost have all got their own different reasons and motivation for playing well this year. At the moment Joel Remolds, Stephen Owen and Matthew Egan are the only three guys injured. It’s a very close club so I’m sure all the boys will be thinking about those boys. The motivation is obviously to play the highest level of football that they can.

NW: We’re the only AFL side with our own VFL team, but next year that will most definitely change. It shows, with both the AFL and VFL teams doing so well this year, that having control over the VFL side is very desirable.

LT: It’s great to be able get first and second year players and mould them and guide them and play them in positions that you want to play them and not have to send them off to another club. Even the older guys, with Henry Playfair, Charlie Gardiner, Tim Callan and Matthew Spencer, to keep them motivated playing in different positions. It’s worked really well having our stand-alone side this year, and they’re a very close team, which that causes.

NW: Of those experienced players, they’ve all done exceptionally well this year, but Charlie Gardiner has played some superb footy this season.

LT: Fourth in the Liston, they just sums up his year I think. He’s been a fantastic player for us, whenever we’ve needed someone to go on ball and work hard, Charlie’s been able to do it for us. Charlie’s versatility has been fantastic for the club.