There's no bigger match on the school football calendar than the historic clash between Catherine McAuley College and Bendigo Senior Secondary College.
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Each year the two teams meet as part of School Sport Victoria's Premier League competition, with the winner taking the all important Bendigo bragging rights.
On Wednesday the two teams will meet once again for the first round of competition, with both squads determined to get the job done.
BSSC coach Dean Sheldrick said the historic clash was the marquee game of the year for school football throughout the district.
"Our boys are really pumped and excited for the game after what's been a bit of a stop-start past couple of years with SSV football," he said.
"Last year the Premier League season wasn't completed and with local football getting into action the past few weeks - this match is certainly at the front of our players' minds."
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Sheldrick said he expected a tough match and that the opening minutes of the game would be crucial to taking victory.
"It's always a challenging game with strong representation from both teams," he said.
"The opening 10-15 minutes are always fast and heated and set the tone for the rest of the game.
"We aim to get ourselves into the contest, settle well and win the ball at the source."
Sheldrick said BSSC had several exciting players that will be in action, which includes Zac Tickell, Will Burke, Nick Roberts and Tait Poyser.
CMC coach Lee Coghlan said it was bound to be a huge game between two teams that have a long-standing rivalry.
"A lot of these kids go from being teammates on the weekend within their local clubs to playing against each other while representing their school," he said.
Coghlan said the team included a mixture of new and experienced players that are determined to get the job done on Wednesday at the QEO.
"The exciting part of the game for us this year is we've got quite a few boys who will be making a step up to a level of football they've never played before," he said.
"We have others with plenty of experience such as Olly Mayman and captain Rowan Fox who will both look to have big games."
The game commences at 12.30pm on Wednesday at Bendigo's Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Catherine McAuley College: B: L. O'Brien J. Smith J. McMahon. HB: H. McCarthy J. Harris O. Mayman. C: W. Stewart R. Mulquiny D. Edmiston. HF: A. Patterson J. Cheeseman A. Day Wicks. F: N. Sherriff R. Fox (captain), Z. Grieve. Foll: W. Butler E. Pearce H. Kelly. Int: T. Long , S. Boyd, J. Gillies, X. Meersbergen , Z. Roberts. Emerg: D. Arnold, F. Banfield, Louis Banfield, Evan Cole, T.Farrelly, E. McCarthy, W.Pinniger, T.Travaglia
Bendigo Senior Secondary College: B: X.Carter, L Thomas, T Purcell. HB: L. Salvador (captain),W Burke, T Poyser, C: A Melis, R Paetow, C Tangey. HF: L Anderson, L Siu, Z Tickell. F: B Elkington, Z Pearce, D Bell. R: H Frischke, C James, C Leed. IC: N Roberts, T Dillion, M Noden, T Wastell, D Lowther, T Turner. Emerg: R. Savy, T. Bake
The boys SSV Premier League is contested over three rounds with other teams from across the state.
The second round will be held the week beginning May 16, followed by round three commencing from May 30.
Finals will then begin from June 13.
When the two schools met last year in 2021, CMC triumphed over BSSC by 22 points, final scores 11.4 (70) over 7.6 (48).
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