The Lower South West are Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Championships Division 3 Champions!!!
The biggest scare of the weekend came at the most critical time, but Gavin Norrish’s men saw out a nervy last few minutes to claim a 2 point win over Mortlock in Sundays Grand Final at Leederville Oval. The team ended the championships undefeated, the 8.8.56 to 8.6.54 win enough to claim the title.
The day started with confirmation that versatile tall, Matt Tilbee, would be a non starter for the Grand Final after a Saturday night x-ray confirmed a broken finger and some time on the sidelines. It was disappointing news on multiple fronts, with Tilbee a key member of the team across the four pool games and it’s also an absence that will likely be felt by Bridgetown when Tyrepower Manjimup League action re-commences.
The Tilbee news aside, there was an upbeat mood amongst the players as they headed for the bus early on Sunday morning, the mood no doubt helped by the generous support of Kojonup Ag Supplies who supplied coffees to help the boys navigate the early start.
Fittingly, the Grand Final was being played at the home of East Perth, the WAFL club the Lower South West is zoned to, and the side was allocated the East Perth home rooms. As the 9am start time loomed, the team was further uplifted by the level of support in attendance, with a large contingent of both Perth based support and people who had travelled up from the region Saturday or early Sunday morning.
The ground was in better condition that Joondalup 24 hours earlier, despite having hosted a day of the championships on Friday and a full day of WAFL fixtures Saturday. Finally it came time for the teams to hit the ground, a change in routine with a team photo before lining up for a wonderfully delivered Welcome to Country, followed by the National Anthem.
As expected in a Grand Final, the opening moments were a cagey affair with bodies on the line and both sides conscious of making early errors. A good passage of play down the outer side saw Leon van Voorthuizen connect with Brett Wilson, who found Ash Wallam on the lead. Wallam’s kick sent the Lower South West deep into attack and from the resulting boundary thrown in, Wilson was involved again with a superb fend off and snap. The all important first goal was on the board and it was to be just the start to a number of important contributions from Wilson. The ball was locked for a long period in the Lower South West forward line and as several ‘almost’ moments started to add up, a Ben Cabassi kick around the corner landed in the arms of Brodie Grant. Grant kicked truly and helped settle nerves, as anyone who has watched footy for long enough knows, between two good sides the tide may turn eventually and missed chances can come back to haunt. As the first quarter reached its halfway point, Mortlock put their first on the board to bring the margin back to 6 points and the margin seemed insufficient given the Lower South West dominance to that point. Mortlock added another, before Wallam added another and restored the one goal advantage. Wallam was proving a handful for the Mortlock defence with multiple marks in the first quarter, while David Cowan was his usual clearance machine self. Wilson added a Mark of the Day contender on the outer side wing as the team turned defence into attack and as the quarter wound down, the Lower South West took a 7 point lead to the first change, 3.1.19 to 2.0.12 with goals to Wilson, Grant and Wallam.
Mat Michael got the second quarter off to a great start barely 90 seconds in, with a beautiful straight finish from 35 metres out. Wallam was attracting a crowd every time he went near the ball, while Cabassi was already having his best patch of the championships after missing Saturday’s action. A Mortlock goal again reduced the margin to a goal, before Michael found Wallam, who took a strong mark with defenders hanging off him. Wallam kicked truly to restore the two goal advantage and set in motion a period that ultimately would prove crucial in the final result. Wilson meanwhile was spending considerable time in the ruck against taller opponents, a crucial job with Thomas Quaife having done so much work Friday and Saturday as the only specialist ruck in the squad.
Keenan-Cruz Wilson again sent the side deep as the quarter passed it’s half way point, proving strong in defence once again after doing a superb job against Central Wheatbelt in particular in the crucial clash on Saturday. On this occasion Mortlock were able to clear, but the warns signs were starting to sound for the red and blacks as the Lower South West had the strong hands of Wallam very much ‘on’ as well as having multiple avenues to attack inside 50. Cabassi received the ball after yet another strong Wallam contest, and after a two handed push in the middle of the back was given the free kick and sent it through for the 6th goal and one that took the margin out to 21 points.
Mortlock did have an enterprising patch as the half wound down, but the defence held firm, Reece Edwards taking a clutch intercept mark. Brett Wilson took ANOTHER Mark of the Day contender, before Harry Taylor sent a kick to the square that once again saw Wallam win out with strength and kick a goal from about two metres out. The margin extended to 26 points and the Lower South West contingent started daring to dream. Wilson was putting together an outrageous individual performance, a superb Captain’s game at the best possible time.
Brodie Grant kicked an important early goal in the Grand Final. Grant was a consistent player throughout the championship for the Lower South West.
Nicholas Hansen had an early sighter from near the 50 in the first minute of the third term and at that stage it appeared the game was going to continue in the manner it had in the first half. Mortlock did pull a goal back after a superb soccer after a contest, both with the clock approaching the half way point of the term and the making still 21, the drama still to come wasn’t foreseeable. Wallam took yet another mark at the halfway point of the quarter, this time diving forward and taking it low to the ground. His shot hit the goal post flush, half way up, with the margin still at 22.
Mortlock did kick one with around 7 minutes left in the quarter, reducing the margin to 16 with a kick that snuck inside the right hands goal post. In amongst all this, Jamie Marinoni was removed the ground after a heavy knock, a shame for both player and team as he was having a fantastic game. A hopeful kick towards goal from Mortlock evaded everyone in the goal square and went through on the bounce, reducing the margin to 10. While the Lower South West had plenty of the ball in the third quarter, the connection inside 50 that had existed earlier was proving harder to find and Mortlock definitely appeared quicker across the ground. Alex Cabassi had a late chance to extend the margin, but was adjudged as having fended off high and to compound it, Mortlock kicked their 4th of the quarter with a wonder snap around the corner with 8 seconds left on the clock to reduce the margin to 4 points.
After a tense 7 minutes, Josh Power put a great snap through on the left after a boundary throw in and with a 9 point lead approaching half way through the quarter, it was now a question of whether the Lower South West had weathered the storm.
The margin hovered around a goal and a half and the clock ticked down to just three minutes remaining. A strong tackle right in front of the Mortlock goal was toughly adjudged as high and once again the margin was reduced to 3 points. A quick clearance out of the middle saw a highly disputed mark around 40 metres out of Mortlock’s goal, Travis Abbott appearing to get first hands on the incoming kick before Mortlock’s Peter Coles claimed it from deep in the queue of leaping players. The resulting kick went wide, much to the relief of the Lower South West contingent and as the kick in was to be taken, the clock ticked into it’s final 60 seconds.
Nerves jangled and unlike club footy, the vagaries of representative football meant there was no playbook for managing tight game situations. From the kick in, the ball spilled off a pack before a Mortlock boot made connection and sent the ball over the group of players, separately looking for the boundary line. It was Coles again, marking further into the pocket than his previous shot, but as a left footer on the favoured side of the ground. The kicked missed to the narrow side, crossing the line with 5 seconds left on the clock and essentially ending the contest, the Lower South West claiming the title with a 2 point win, 8.8.56 to 8.6.54. Wilson was superb, Matt Marinoni led from the front and Josh Power got better as the game wore on, while Abbott was immense in the back half of the ground. Mortlock’s Rudy Riddoch was adjudged as Best on Ground by the umpires.
The Lower South West Football League is proud to be back at the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Championships and very thankful for all our championship partners, led by Greenacres Mill.
Manjimup Gateway Hotel and MacMahon have provided magnificent support, as have;
KJB Fabrication
Blackwood Plant Hire
Outdoor World Bunbury
Manjimup Toyota
South West Haulage Co.
Alison Rutten in Real Estate
Brooks Contracting
Featured championship team image courtesy of Jack Foley Photography.
