Three years ago the Crows hung on by six points in the decider against Collingullie-Glenfield Park, 12 months after the heartbreak of losing to the Tigers in a gripping contest in the wet by four points.

Leeton-Whitton's three-point major semi loss to grand final opponents the Tigers a fortnight ago had a similar feel to the 2016 grand final defeat, with the siren ensuring a late charge fell just short.

One of the mainstays of the club, Dryburgh said the 2017 win was a huge weight off the club's shoulders, ending 39 years without the ultimate success.

"It was massive for the town, we hadn't won one for a long time and hadn't won one as a combined club," Dryburgh said.

"It was fairly nerve wracking, we wouldn't want it that close this week but we'd take a win either way.

"It's a similar vibe, the town's got a great feeling about it so we're keen to go out there and do them proud."

A number of other club juniors, including Tyh Evans, Hugh Collins, Cooper Sharman and Jayden Lehman, have returned this year after other leagues were cancelled to try and win a second flag for the town.

"There probably is (less weight on our shoulders than 2017). It's been a weird year but we're all pretty excited to be in the grand final with a group we've got," Dryburgh said.

"The guys who've come back are all a bit younger than me, but a few played in the 2017 premiership and you keep tabs of where they've been at.

"We've always had a pretty good junior program so to get a lot of them back this year has been really exciting to play with them again.

"There's a real bond there between all the Leeton locals. Everyone wants to play in a premiership like in your local club."

Although only six teams participated in a six-round season of the revamped AFL Riverina Championship, Dryburgh said another premiership on Saturday would mirror the Crows' accomplishment three years ago.

"Wagga Tigers are a very quality outfit. Although there's only been six teams in the comp this year the standard's been unbelievable," he said.

"The two best teams are playing off in the grand final now and personally I see it the same as 2017, it would mean just as much."

Dryburgh was strong against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong's gun ruckman Jacob Olsson in the 41-point preliminary final win, and will resume his battle with Tigers big man Brad Graham in the decider.

He said the Crows have spoken about correcting their slumps in third quarters during the finals.

In week one against the Tigers they were made to pay dearly for a scoreless third term, while the Lions wasted a huge chance to put scoreboard pressure on by kicking 3.7 in last week's preliminary final to bridge Leeton-Whitton's 14-point halftime lead to five.

"I don't really have an answer for that one. We've talked about it again after this week, because after halftime they really put the pressure on us," Dryburgh said.

"We fought back better after halftime than we did the week before, so hopefully we've learned the lessons from that.

"It's a grand final, the third quarter is the premiership quarter this week so we won't need any motivation."

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