TWELVE months ago Charlton fell 12 points shy of Wedderburn in what was a North Central Football League grand final that was billed as a genuine 50-50 contest.

A year on, the Navy Blues are back on the grand final stage against Wedderburn on Saturday.

However, this time the Navy Blues go in rank $6.50 outsiders against the Redbacks at Wycheproof.

“We know we’re coming up against a star-studded line-up; they’ve got big names in their side, but you’ve got to be in it to win it,” first-year Charlton coach Aaron Walklate said on Thursday.

“This is the fifth time we’ve played them this season, so we’re reasonably familiar with how they go about it, and obviously a key for us will be stopping the Sam Barnes and Brady Herdman factor.

“If you can limit their impact on the game, you’re halfway there, and we’ll try to force someone else to step up and win the game for Wedderburn.”

While the Navy Blues - chasing their first flag since 2009 - go into the grand final as underdogs, they have inflicted one of the two losses Wedderburn has suffered this year.

That was in round 19 when forward Joseph McGrath kicked a goal after the siren to give Charlton a one-point win.

In their other three matches, the Redbacks have won by margins of 12, 26 and 39 points in the second semi-final a fortnight ago.

“We’ve been thereabouts each time we’ve played them this year and our pressure around the ball has held us in good stead,” Walklate said.

“We think we can match them in most areas, but obviously, we don’t have those two big key forwards they have (Barnes and Herdman).”

The main focal point for the Navy Blues has been McGrath, who has kicked 50 goals.

McGrath’s 50 are twice as many as the next best goalkicker at Charlton in Travis Baird (25), who is battling to be fit for the grand final after injuring his hamstring in the second semi-final.

Baird - whose season has been plagued by hamstring injuries - kicked 23 of his 25 goals in the last five matches of the home and away season

“Hopefully, we can get a good spread of goalkickers on Saturday and that will hold us in good stead,” Walklate said.

One area the Navy Blues must improve on from their second semi-final against Wedderburn is conversion and their ability to apply scoreboard pressure.

The Navy Blues kicked 0.9 in the first half of the second semi-final, before finishing with 4.11.

Charlton did sharpen up in front of goal last week, kicking 10.7 in its seven-point preliminary final win over St Arnaud.

“We’ll aim to be thereabouts at three quarter-time, and all of a sudden you don’t know what can happen,” Walklate said.

“They’ve only lost a handful of games over the past few years, but you look back over the three grand finals in a row Wedderburn has won and the biggest margin is 12 points.

“They’re going for four in a row, but a couple of kicks different in those grand finals and we might not be talking about how many in a row they’ve won.”

Saturday will be the first NCFL grand final to be played at Wycheproof for 35 years.

The last time the grand final was played at Wycheproof in 1979, Donald beat Charlton by 95 points.

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Won: 13 Lost: 5

Average for: 89.8 Against: 63.1

Quarters won: 48/72

Average win: 44.5 Loss: 19.4

Time in front: 63.9%

Flag odds: $6.50

SEASON RESULTS:

Rd 2: D BOORT BY 52.

Best: R. Thompson, T. Finlay, J. McLean, A. McKenzie, D. Thiesz.

Rd 3: D BIRCHIP-WATCHEM BY 80.

Best: S. O’Connor, T. Finlay, A. Judd, A. McKenzie, B. Walklate, A. Walklate.

Rd 4: D WYCHEPROOF BY 99.

Best: B. Walklate, J. Baird, A. Walklate, S. Rogan, L. Mulquiny, A. McKenzie.

Rd 5: LT WEDDERBURN BY 12.

Best: A. McKenzie, T. Baird, D. Thiesz, B. Roberts, A. Walklate, M. Laffin.

Rd 6: LT ST ARNAUD BY 5.

Best: A. Walklate, B. Walklate, R. Thompson, A. McKenzie, A. Judd.

Rd 7: D DONALD BY 99.

Best: D. Thiesz, B. Walklate, R. Collins, A. McKenzie, S. Rogan, J. McLean.

Rd 9: D BOORT BY 39.

Best: L. Kyriakides, R. Thompson, M. Laffin, A. Walklate, L. Mulquiny.

Rd 10: D BIRCHIP-WATCHEM BY 8.

Best: L. Mulquiny, R. Thompson, M. Willox, R. Collins, A. Judd.

Rd 11: D WYCHEPROOF BY 14.

Best: R. Thompson, M. Willox, K. Sait, D. Wright, T. Collins, S. Rogan.

Rd 12: LT WEDDERBURN BY 26.

Best: R. Thompson, K. Sait, B. Walklate, M. Willox, S. Rogan, A. Judd.

Rd 13: D ST ARNAUD BY 17.

Best: M. Willox, A. Judd, D. Thiesz, R. Collins, J. Baird, Z. Sullivan.

Rd 15: D DONALD BY 79.

Best: J. McGrath, J. Baird, S. Rogan, B. Walklate, J. McLean, R. Thompson.

Rd 16: D BOORT BY 32.

Best: R. Thompson, S. Rogan, D. Thiesz, L. Kyriakides, D. Wright.

Rd 17: D BIRCHIP-WATCHEM BY 52.

Best: D. Thiesz, R. Thompson, T. Baird, B. Walklate, A. Judd, R. Collins.

Rd 18: LT WYCHEPROOF BY 15.

Best: B. Walklate, D. Lloyd, L. Kyriakides, T. Baird, J. McLean.

Rd 19: D WEDDERBURN BY 1.

Best: B. Walklate, R. Thompson, T. Baird, M. Willox, K. Sait, A. McKenzie.

2ND SEMI: LT WEDDERBURN BY 39.

Best: D. Thiesz, M. Willox, B. Walklate, S. O’Connor, J. McLean, R. Thompson.

PRELIM: D ST ARNAUD BY 7.

Best: L. Kyriakides, J. McLean, A. Judd, A. Walklate, M. Winsall, K. Sait.