The first-year Sharks duo arrived in Wagga in May 2017 to begin their tenure at Wagga’s RAAF base and will jet out to Sydney next week as their career in the air force takes another turn.

Though they weren’t able to make time for the beautiful game during their first season in town, Anderson’s drive to get back into soccer landed him squarely in the lap of last year’s beaten grand finalists.

“I had a mate from back at home who I used to play with and he’d been running around in second grade at Lake Albert, so I went down to have a look and started playing,” Anderson said.

Eaton, a keen player himself, was naturally roped in with his compatriot.

“I was keen to get back into it and I was going to end up wherever Nick went,” Eaton said.

“I’ve played since under 10s and had a couple of years off, so it was good to find somewhere here to play.”

Anderson, 19, has since formed a potent attacking trio with Lake Albert’s Gardner brothers while Eaton, 29, has shifted seamlessly between midfield and defence this season.

Their arrival also coincided with the Sharks’ 19-game unbeaten streak this season – a streak that would’ve ended last weekend if not for Anderson’s last-ditch double against Wagga United.

“It was luck, all luck, honestly,” Anderson said.

“I’d actually had a few practice shots before the game and I shanked pretty much everything, so I was just thinking to myself that (the semi final) was going to be a shocker.

“But as soon as that goal went in and it went to extra time, we were confident we could get the win and United’s heads just kind of dropped.”

Now, the aircraftsmen are just one win from capping off a perfect season with their new-found club and have plenty of incentive given their limited time left in Wagga.

“We’re both getting posted to the RAAF base in Richmond. We graduate on Thursday and fly on next Monday, so there’s not much time,” Eaton said.

“It’d be great to finish with a win but I’m already surprised by how well we’ve done this year.”

”They’re a good group of guys at the club,” Anderson added.

The Sharks will nevertheless be facing their bogey team in Young and Anderson is determined to improve on their last encounter – a scoreless draw all the way back in May.

“I don’t know what it was but we just couldn’t score against them last time and everyone finished the game pretty unimpressed with themselves. I know we can do it this weekend and all the boys are really keen to turn it around,” Anderson said.

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