JONTY: A huge weekend of sport in the region. Everything that could have gone right for local teams did go right with Devon Meadows, Hampton Park and Neerim South all getting up, as well as Beaconsfield’s Under-19s, Pakenham’s Under-18s and Bunyip’s Under-16s. Best action we’ll kick off with you, Dave, a preliminary final between Tooradin-Dalmore and Cora Lynn.
BEST ACTION
DAVID: Yes, I did. For a large part of the game, it looked like Cora Lynn would make the grand final. They had all the momentum through the finals series but they hit a wall at three-quarter time on Saturday. It was like the local council put witches’ hats across the middle of the ground and said, “we’ve got to start the repairs for cricket season, you’re not allowed to play on it”. The ball hardly went into that part of the ground in the last quarter, Tooradin dominated. But despite going out. Cora Lynn still get best action. Lachie Peluso is probably about 5’6 but has been in the team of the year as a defender twice – he went forward and kicked two goals in five minutes early in the second. It put Cora Lynn 10 points up, which then became 16. He did the big celebration, the fist pump, everyone from Cora Lynn was like ‘what’s going on here?’
BLAIR: Devon Meadows had a breakthrough premiership, their first ever flag. Best action goes to Cody Ray. Every game I’ve seen of Devon Meadows, he’s had great moments. He runs out the front of stoppage, he’s quick, he’s a very smart user and at a crucial time when Frankston tied the scores at 52 apiece, Jack Wilson, who was everywhere as well, gets a handball out to Cody Ray running deep into the right pocket and snaps it back for a goal, he celebrated with the crowd. It was a pretty good moment of a great premiership.
JUSTIN: I’m going to give you two. The first action comes in a reserves game between Frankston Bombers and Somerville. Somerville has been the best team all year and kicked a goal to go three points in front with about two minutes to go but with about 10 seconds left, a Somerville player was under pressure near the line and forced it over. The entire crowd was chanting for deliberate, he got pinned for it.
DAVID: Which is rare in local footy.
JUSTIN: It is, especially in the reserves. Liam Wishart, defender for Frankston Bombers, kicks a banana from the boundary and it goes through. It was heartbreaking for the Somerville boys, I wouldn’t want to be the guy that gave away that free kick.
DAVID: What an interesting night that would have been at Frankston, You had one player miss from straight in front and the seniors lost and they were hot favourites, and the reserves win when they were underdogs and had a hero.
JUSTIN: Pakenham’s C Grade netball. They scored three goals in the last 90 seconds. All Seville had to do was maintain centre pass but the Seville shooter couldn’t get it done, she gave a violation and Pakenham went down the other end and score three in 90 seconds and snatch the title.
JONTY: My best action is via Mason McGarrity. He kicked only one goal in each of his two home and away meetings with Trafalgar, but scored five on Saturday. He was helped by an injury to Connor Noonan, who was his direct opponent during the season, and he took full toll. Neerim South dominated the first half but led by less than five goals at halftime, so the door was still ajar somewhat for Trafalgar, then he scored two of the better goals you’ll see in the third quarter. He did very well and was one of many reasons Neerim South was too classy on Saturday.
STORYLINES
JONTY: Storylines of premiership triumph is almost the best part of covering flags from our perspective. Justin you covered the Pakenham Under-18s on Saturday, they went through the season undefeated as the clear best side in the competition. Any individual storylines that really made the premiership?
JUSTIN: To me, it’s head coach James Perkins. They went back-to-back, winning premier last year, then went undefeated this year. Over a third of Pakenham’s senior players are currently listed in or graduates of his program so he is running an amazing program of Under-18s. He is breeding senior footballers and flags. To me, that’s the storyline of the weekend.
DAVID: Justin, Pakenham didn’t have an Under-18s side two years ago, it was a massive story that such a big town didn’t have a team. James Perkins was coaching at Cora Lynn, and he’s come to Pakenham and turned that joint around as far as juniors go. Cora Lynn don’t have an Under-16s this year, the Under-18s really struggle. He has a lot of power at that age level. He’s turned the club around and is giving them something to build their future around.
BLAIR: Mine comes from Southern Division 2, the flag belonged to Hampton Park. Mason Hawkins, the ruck broke his hand a few weeks ago and there were worries about whether he’d be right or not, they kept it pretty quiet. He came back in the grand final and kicked five. He didn’t get best on if you can believe that but it’s a good storyline and they swamped him when he kicked one after the siren.
JONTY: First year at the club as well I think?
BLAIR: Yep, came across, knows coach Luke Bull.
JONTY: Dave, a bit different for you, you haven’t covered a premiership but you have a grand final upcoming so players you are looking forward to seeing in a grand final or players who could win a premiership you’d love to cover.
DAVID: I’m going to take you back, Jonty. When I first came to Pakenham, I coached at Pakenham Junior Footy Club. I coached an Under-14s team and in the other Under-14s team was a kid called Sam Blackwood, who had extraordinary talent but was injury prone. He was like a junior Scott Pendlebury. He just found his way out of traffic but his career hasn’t really taken off to where I thought it would, because of injury. Last year when Nar Nar Goon won the premiership, Sam Blackwood and his brother, Jake, were both sitting on the sidelines watching. They were both injured. I think a lot of the inspiration for this year has been to get Sam and Jake a premiership. They’re both fit and firing. Jake got named fullback in the team of the year, Sam stands right beside him in the back pocket so that will be a magnificent storyline if Nar Nar Goon get across the line this week. The other one is the two coaches. Matt Shorey is a well known figure around local footy but he’s never won a senior premiership before. He has the chance to become a senior premiership coach this year. Some would say he’s been handed the keys to the Ferrari but as he explained to me, that comes with challenges. How do you keep improving the squad when you’ve won by 100-odd points each week. How do you keep them motivated to keep improving? On the other side of it, Jordan Kelly, he was the premiership captain of Tooradin in 2022, took over from Lachie Gillespie as coach and I also have an intimate knowledge of Jordy’s journey over the years. If Jordy Kelly and Kris Sabbatucci hold the cup up on Saturday…there will be tears. All the best to all involved.
JONTY: For me, a similar storyline in a way to the Blackwood boys for you. Eddie McGillivray got dropped for the 2022 grand final and he was one of Neerim South’s best on Saturday so there were plenty of people happy to see him not only win the flag but perform well on the day. And I think Bunyip’s Under-16s flag is a great story in itself. The seniors had a percentage of just 11 last year, they’ve taken a step forward in a different league this year and the youngsters are providing a beacon of hope. And Beaconsfield’s Under-19.5s, in a year where the seniors have plateaued a bit, their pathway is as strong as ever as evidenced by Sunday’s premiership.
DAVID: One quick line – South Belgrave beat Park Orchards by two points…
JONTY: Closer than I expected, Park Orchards have peaked at the right time, but the best team all year took out the flag.
INDIVIDUAL PREMIERS
JONTY: A pretty similar topic, but a player you were rapt to see win a premiership, I’ll start with you Blair.
BLAIR: I did mention Devon Meadows before winning their first ever flag and a huge part of that is Joel Hillis. More than a decade at the club, he’s an absolute star. His resume and accolades speak for itself. He’s given everything to that club and for him to win the first ever premiership at the club and be such a big part as best on ground, I was very happy to see him win the medal.
JUSTIN: I’ll piggy back off that a little bit. There was a massive crowd at Kinetic Stadium and I was fortunate enough to be there and you just hear the name ‘Joel Hillis’ 20 times before the ball is even bounced and knowing people around the MPFNL, the respect for this bloke is sky-high. I know he’s very humble and team-first which is what we love about him. Nick Battle as well has been there for a number of years so good to see him get a flag. And I do want to give a quick mention again to Pakenham’s C Grade netball. The first Pakenham netball premiership for a while. Tears in the eyes, Marg Jones was beside herself. It meant so much for them to get the flag.
JONTY: Well summed up. For me, it’s Chris Urie. A legend of the club, Kody Wilson, the coach now, said he remembers being young and looking up to Chris and the difficulty of the decision to leave him out but also the understanding that you don’t want to change a winning formula given how successful they’d been, particularly in the last two games. Yes, they won all season, but these were both hard fought, comeback wins. They didn’t want to change the squad, heartbreaking for Chris Urie who was spending an hour a day doing physio exercises for 15 weeks to give himself a chance to be selected just for the last game of the season and to not select him when he was actually fit was a tough decision both from a team quality point of view but also emotionally given how much he means to the club. And then for the stars to align and him to come in, unfortunately due to a Lachie French injury was disappointing for Lachie but I think everyone around the club was happy to see Chris sign off with a premiership.
DAVID: Boys, this week I’m looking forward to Kyra Esler, a goal shooter from Nar Nar Goon. Nar Nar Goon was down and she nailed a shot from long range with the last shot of the day to get Nar Nar Goon into the grand final. Because she missed best action, I’m looking forward to watching her in the grand final. Korumburra-Bena has been on top but I think the Goon can roll them and the steady hand of Kyra Esler will be a big reason why. And I look forward to watching Shane Savage play in the grand final on the weekend. He’s the biggest and strongest midfielder in the competition and to me he’s like a pot that has been sitting on the stove simmering. On Saturday, he turned up the gas a little bit and I reckon he has one more turn of the dial on him. I think he could do some serious damage. For Tooradin to beat Nar Nar Goon, he probably needs to have an absolute blinder, playing against one of the best players in the competition in Trent Armour.
