That is easy to understand given the ride he has been on with the Cobras, which line up against Sunbury in the grand final at the Eastern Oval on Saturday.

Winning makes any sporting experience enjoyable, but it has been more than that for Del Papa.

One of the lures to get the 24-year-old back to Bacchus Marsh after a year with Werribee in the VFL was to again play with his mates – hopefully in a successfully campaign.

For Del Papa everything has fallen into place on all fronts.

“It’s great being back with mates. We‘re a tightly-knit group.”

Del Papa believes the way an influx of recruits has blended into the group of established players who had been together since their junior days at Bacchus Marsh has been a key to the success to date.

“The new players have fitted in really well.

”They’re not like newcomers. It’s like they’ve been around for years,” he said.

“We’ve gelled together really well.

“Everyone’s playing for each other...on the same wave length.”

Del Papa was a relative late-starter to football – not playing until he was 16 years of age.

He quickly found his feet in the game, playing in one of St Patrick's College’s Herald Sun Shield premiership-winning sides and having a season with Western Jets in the TAC Cup..

The defensive midfielder had try-outs with several VFL clubs, including North Ballarat, Williamstown and Coburg, before making his way to Werribee.

He spent last year with the Tigers in the AFL Victoria development league.

As well as a chance of possibly playing in an historic finals series for the Cobras, the change in Werribee’s AFL alignment with North Melbourne also meant an opportunity to take the next step in the VFL would be much more difficult.

The Tigers went from a part to full alignment with the Kangaroos.

Del Papa said he returned to Bacchus Marsh with much greater confidence in his game for the experience of a season with Werribee.

As well as excitement which had been building for more than week, he has no doubt there will be nerves and all round on Saturday, but said what he and the rest of the team had learned to cope with this season was the pressure which went with being a top team.