IT was originally intended to be a whirlwind Wagga visit for Easter for Brad Graham.
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But the urge to play football proved too hard to resist for the ruckman, who has been an important cog in the Wagga Tigers' surge to Saturday's AFL Riverina Championship major semi against Leeton-Whitton after returning to his junior club.
After three years at Maribyrnong Park in Melbourne's Eastern District Football League, the 26-year-old is back in Wagga working as an accountant due to COVID.
"It was in the back of my mind to come back to the Tigers at one stage, it just happened sooner rather than later," Graham said.
"I came back to see my dad for a week at Easter and never left. I only brought a couple of pairs of clothes and had to get the footy boots posted up.
"It's worked out well playing with the boys I did growing up and now playing a final, I'm looking forward to it."
Graham has fond memories of playing the Crows at Robertson Oval, having been part of the Tigers team that won the grand final in his last season in 2016.
With just six teams competing and players from other leagues and clubs bolstering lists, Graham has noticed a marked rise in quality.
"The big injection of talent coming in has definitely made it a higher level of football than what I remember," he said.
"At the Tigers we've definitely got more experience and are a lot older, so the skills have improved dramatically.
"In 2016 our game style was beating teams with pace, but with some older bodies we're taking a more aggressive approach to how we play."
The Tigers beat the Crows by 29 points on a wet day in round three, but Graham said they're preparing for a brutal battle given the visitors had a handful of key players out.
"It was a gutsy win but we go into each game with the same mindset, to play our best for four quarters," he said.
"We were aware they had some players out so we'll be ready to go knowing they'll have a better list this time."
The Tigers have recruited strongly this year, but many including Graham, Charlie Bance, Shaun Campbell, Shaun Flanigan and Jake Gaynor are club juniors.
"Guys that have history with the club are invested in the club, particularly ones that have come through juniors," coach Troy Maiden said.
"They're not just coming from anywhere to play, and it's a lot easier to get them to buy in to what we're trying to do."
Saturday's major semi gets underway at Robertson Oval at 2.30pm.
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