The full house sign will be up in the clubrooms at Fearon Reserve for Thursday night selection.
It can only mean one thing: a return to the glory days for Williamstown CYMS in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
CYs captain Ben Gray says the mood around the club ahead of Sunday’s division 1 grand final against Therry Penola is similar to that of their back-to-back premiership years of 2008-09.
“I haven’t seen it quite like this since the last time we were having a tilt at the flag,” he said.
“Thursday night at training a couple of years ago we were struggling to get blokes to stay back for dinner; now we’re struggling for room.”
The CYs have sewn up promotion to the premier divisions for the first time.
Their sights are now firmly set on going up as premiers.
The turnaround was not born with a semi-final win over Therry Penola two Saturdays ago but, rather, from the moment senior coach Mathew Montebello walked into the place. Some might have found Montebello’s coaching style slightly confronting at first, but it didn’t take long for the playing group to come around.
“It took a while for the group to get used to his style because he’s got a bit of a my-way-or-the-highway style,” Gray said.
“As soon as all the players got on board with that, we skyrocketed.
“This year everyone has bought into that mentality. It’s just lifted the club and the club is up and about.”
One word that Gray associates with Montebello is “professionalism”.
Coming from a stint with Williamstown in the VFL, Montebello will not accept second-rate efforts from his players on the training track or on match day.
“It’s an amazing turnaround and I put it all down to Monty,” Gray said.
“He’s been a terrific coach and, to be honest, I’ve probably had the best coach-player relationship with him.
“He’s really good with the players, very approachable and I’ve never met anyone who loves his footy so much.
“He makes you play for him and to buy into the style of football that he wants you to play.”
Gray, 27, played a big role as a player in the back-to-back flags of five years ago.
So much so that Shannon Grant rewarded him a VFL contract with the Bendigo Bombers.
Gray got the chance to play an Essendon intra-club match and three senior VFL games.
He admitted he was a “lost soul” amid the Bombers’ elite but will never forget the experience.
“It was off the back of the ’09 premiership. I had a good year that year and won the best and fairest at CYs,” Gray said.
“He gave me a call to go and do preseason and I won myself a contract on the back of a good game against Collingwood.
“It was a great experience, I really enjoyed playing at Bendigo.”
But unless it led to an AFL contract, Gray was only ever going to end up at one place – back at CYs.
“I’ve been CYs through and through, always loved playing here.”
To captain CYs to the premier divisions is a dream come true for Gray, who started his football at Williamstown Juniors.
It’s been a frustrating season for Gray as a player with three hamstring injuries, but he returned to his best form at the right time of the year.
With Luke Molan recruited to the club to kick goals, it has been a season of discovery for Gray, who has been shunted into different positions for the betterment of the team.
“It took me a while to learn my role this year, but I think I’ve worked out my run at the right end of the year,” Gray said. “It’s been a frustrating year for me personally, but hopefully next week it’ll all pay off.”
Where Gray plays will be discussed with Montebello in the days leading up to Sunday’s grand final at Bundoora’s Garvey Oval. Gray won’t care as long as it leads to him standing up on the podium to receive the holy grail.
