Mulrooney Medal winner Beau Walker put a move to Western Australia on hold for a chance to chase premiership glory with the Belconnen Magpies.
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Walker is hoping to cap off a perfect week when the Magpies play against Ainslie in the AFL Canberra grand final at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
The midfielder claimed the medal for a second time in three years earlier this week and is now aiming to claim a rare piece of silverware to add to his list of individual honours.
Walker polled 15 votes for the regular season, pipping teammate and coach James Bennett in the process.
But Walker, who kicked 40 goals this year, almost left the capital less than a year ago to be closer to family on the other side of Australia.
"I've got family in Western Australia and I was going to head over there at the end of last year, but decided to hang around and try to win a premiership here with Belconnen. That's the reason I'm still here," Walker said.
"Just to win it with my best mates at the footy club, I really couldn't think of anything better."
Belconnen player-coach Bennett hoped Walker could stand tall to end Ainslie's three-year AFL Canberra domination.
"Winning the medal really reflects his value in our side, he's played been able to impact the game in the midfield but also been a dangerous threat in the forwards," Bennett said.
"It's been another string to his bow that he's added and hopefully he can bring both of those elements to the game on the weekend."
Ainslie beat Belconnen by 27 points two weeks ago and is chasing its fourth consecutive premiership.
The Magpies, however, are confident they can finally break through for their first premiership in 10 years.
"I said to the guys after [the semi-final loss] we probably played at 80 per cent of our ability," Bennett said.
"We have a really good game plan on how we're going to turn that around and put Ainslie under much more pressure than we did last time we played them."
Walker added: "We've got ourselves in this position by playing some really good footy, so I don't think too much will change.
"We just have to string together four quality quarters of footy, which we haven't been able to do against them this year.
"They have quite a good team all over the park you cant identify a particular area i think generally we match up well against each other."
"Hopefully we can learn [from the past], which is in the back of my mind, we can grow from that experience and put in a better performance this time around."
AFL CANBERRA GRAND FINALS
First grade: Ainslie v Belconnen Magpies at Manuka Oval, 2.15pm.
Women's: Queanbeyan Tigers v Belconnen Magpies at Manuka Oval, 5.30pm
Reserve grade: Eastlake v Belconnen Magpies at Manuka Oval, 11.45am
