FIRST year Surfside Waves captain, Adrian Bond, jumped at the offer to captain his newly promoted side at the start of the season. Now, on the eve of the GRFC Men’s Division Grand Final, he is set to lead his troops into battle against a highly experienced Geelong Rangers outfit at Stead Park on Sunday.

PHOTO: Surfside Waves captain Adrian Bond poses with the GRFC Cup at a mid week photo-shoot to promote Sunday’s Grand Final (Photo: Tonci Prusac)

Bond started off his football career playing juniors at Barwon SC. He then carved out an illustrious senior career at Surf Coast FC, before transferring to the Ocean Grove based Waves in the last pre-season.

“This year I wanted to enjoy my soccer with a good group of mates and when the coach asked me to be captain, I jumped at the offer,” Bond told ffvgeelong.com.au this week.

With the imminent arrival of his first born child as well as completing the final year of his primary teaching degree, it was always going to be hard to commit to the demands of training twice a week and playing State League football every second week in Melbourne.

He certainly hasn’t regretted his move to GRFC football. On the contrary he is revelling at his new club which finds itself in an exciting period of its existence.

“It is exciting what is happening down at the waves. The new clubrooms at Shell Reserve, that are being built in conjunction with the footy club, will be available for us to use for our own club functions, which is going to be fantastic going forward,” Bond said.

“We are looking at creating a real community feel around the club and the new social rooms will go a long way to helping us achieve that,” he added.

As far as Sunday’s Grand Final opposition was concerned, he holds the Rangers’ players in high regard.

“I have played against quite a few of them in the Saturday leagues (FFV State Leagues) over the years. I enjoy playing against them, it’s always a good tough game.

“The player we will most need to keep an eye on is Scotty Davison. Everyone in Geelong knows his qualities. Apart from him, we will also need to be wary of Troy (Hardy), he’ such a prolific scorer.

“Even (Brian) Conny, he is the man in defence. There’s a lot of experience there, so we will need to be on top of our game on Sunday,” he added.

As far as his own team was concerned, Bond is quietly confident the Waves will perform well on the big stage.

“A few of the younger boys have really stepped up this year. Jack Pedler’s work rate has been incredible. Our midfielders, in particular Stu Mandley and my brother Aaron, have also been brilliant all season, so I am confident we can go all the way on Sunday,” concluded the captain of the Surfside Waves, Adrian Bond.

The GRFC Men’s Division One Grand Final between Surfside Waves and Geelong Rangers will be held on Sunday at Stead Park, kicking off at 3:10pm.