Captain Peter Handscomb has declared his resurgent Victoria side eager to spoil the party as Western Australia pursue domestic cricket history in the Sheffield Shield final.
Victory in the rematch of last year's decider, beginning on Thursday at the WACA Ground, would deliver WA Cricket the unprecedented "six-peat" of consecutive Shield, one-day cup and Big Bash titles.
But they'll need to overcome a Victorian outfit unbeaten from their last five matches and coming off a comfortable seven-wicket win over WA at the same venue last week.
Handscomb, who will return to captaincy duties after an excellent Test series in India, says breaking WA's recent stranglehold on domestic cricket is part of the motivation as Victoria chase their first title since 2018/19.
"Someone's got to, so we may as well try," he quipped.
"That's a little bit of an extra incentive. They've been an incredible side ... the depth in their squad is incredible.
"They've got a very good white-ball team and their red-ball team has been very, very good over the last few years as well. And with that, they've had plenty of Australian representatives.
"Whatever they're doing over here, they're doing it well. But it would be nice to be able to take one away from them."
Speaking in Perth on Wednesday, Handscomb stopped short of naming a starting XI but backed offspin sensation Todd Murphy, if picked, to handle a WACA surface he is yet to bowl on.
Murphy, who snared 7-124 on debut in the first Test in Nagpur, is expected to get the nod ahead of veteran left-arm spinner John Holland.
"Anyone that misses out who's been playing the previous week or throughout the season, it's going to be tough," Handscomb said.
"Todd Murphy hadn't played a game in India either, and he still got picked and did well there.
"We're not fussed about whether guys have played here or not. We've got a lot of talent in the squad and the final make-up, we'll have that conversation tonight and figure it out."
First-choice quicks Lance Morris, Joel Paris and Matt Kelly are set to bolster WA's attack on a pitch which has produced results in every match this season.
Skipper Sam Whiteman is confident his side will not be overawed by their shot at history.
"The group's really good at staying pretty present. The focus is on winning the Shield," he said.
"It's been an amazing couple of years for WA Cricket but I don't think anyone's diving too deep into it. I'm sure once the season finishes everyone will be able to reflect on that, but right now a huge five days and hopefully we can win the Shield."
Having turned their season around after starting with three draws and two losses, Handscomb said the visitors were "definitely in a better place" compared to last year's final and had a better feel for the local conditions.
"At the start of the season we lost every toss, so we were always behind the eight-ball but we still managed to get ourselves into winning positions," he said.
"The signs were there, they were pleasing. And then just those little moments that we couldn't quite get over the line at the start of the season, we're getting over the line now.
"To do that for the last five games, to push our case and to get to the Shield final is huge."
