Southerners will take on Deanmill in the first of Saturday’s big Grand Finals, the pair meeting to decide the East Perth Football Club Colts premiership and get their hands on the GJ Freight shield. Southerners took the direct route to the decider, topping the ladder with just the one regular season loss, before toppling Tigers in the 2nd Semi Final. Deanmill have booked their passage the more difficult way, being usurped for the double chance on the final day of the regular season by Tigers, before defeating Bridgetown in the 1st Semi Final and ending Tigers’ season in Sunday’s Preliminary Final.
Head to Head
The teams have met on three occasions this season, with Southerners winning all three, having only lost the single match in 2025.
Round 3 – Deanmill 7.5.47 def. by Southerners 12.12.84
Round 10 – Southerners 9.11.65 def. Deanmill 3.5.23
Round 17 – Deanmill 2.11.23 def. by Southerners 12.7.79
While on face value, the margin has grown in each of the three meetings, there is more to the Round 17 result than meets the eye. At half time, the scoreboard saw Deanmill behind at home, 2.7.19 to 6.1.37. While Souths held an 18 point lead, the only difference at that stage was Southerners’ efficiency in front of goal. Deanmill had more than their share of both possession and territory to that point and 9 scoring shots to 7, but missed several gettable shots at goal to give away the advantage. The Hawks faded in the second half and Souths kicked 6 goals to 0 to end the contest, as well as effectively end the Hawks’ double chance hopes, but can the Hawks take away enough of the positives from that first half to help them this week? Conversely, with the game the first for Southerners after they dropped their first game of the season, did Deanmill miss their opportunity to cast further doubt in Souths’ minds with their wayward first half kicking?
History
For two clubs who share 32 Colts premierships between them since 1959, they have actually only met each other in Grand Finals on four occasions.
The scoreline currently reads 2 – 2, with Deanmill taking home the first shield under the LSWFL banner in 1959. Southerners claimed their sixth premiership in 1991 with a 33 point win over the Hawks, before the two teams faced off in consecutive Grand Finals in 2007 and 2008. The Hawks were successful in 2007 by 25 points, claiming their seventh Colts success, while a year later Southerners bounced back with a 43 point win to grab title number 16.
Both sides enter the game with winning Grand Final records – Southerners successful in 19 of their 30 trips to the biggest game of the year, while Deanmill have been successful in 13 of their 23 Grand Final appearances.
Southerners’ Jayden Sawyer lining up for one of his three goals in the Round 17 clash with Deanmill.
Photo Courtesy of Three Waters Digital
The Big Questions
The first big question – why has the order of this preview been moved around from the others? Simply put, the first big question impacts the key players profiled in a big way and two massive names will be missing.
Can Alex Cabassi afford to have Lachlan Hughes and Hamish Omodei play in the Colts Grand Final and equally, can Southerners’ Colts Coach, Justin Omodei, afford for them NOT to play? Both approaches carry risk.
Take them into the Colts Grand Final and at best, they are not 100% fresh for the critical League contest and both played important roles in Sunday’s Preliminary Final win over Kojonup. For Hughes in particular who plays such an energetic brand of football, taking on the likes of the Sparks brothers in the middle of Manjimup Recreation Ground (and Hughes did start multiple contests on Sunday in the centre square) with 80 minutes of tough, Grand Final intensity footy already under his belt – is not a recipe for success. With no disrespect to the efforts and hard work of everyone involved in the respective Colts programs – surely no club would trade, or even risk, League success for a Colts flag if it was put in those terms….and this one feels like the ultimate gamble.
On the flip side, Southerners have been on top of the Colts ladder all year. Take the two top vote getters from the recent Best & Fairest out of the side and this risks a premiership that has seemed Souths’ for the taking for much of 2025, against a Deanmill side who have shown they can go with Souths in bursts.
Equally for the players themselves who have been so crucial in Southerners’ run to the Grand Final – young men missing out on a potential flag with mates is a tough scenario, especially IF the League game then ended in disappointment.
For what it’s worth, and with absolutely zero inside information on this one – I’m expecting them to line up at 9:35am on Saturday.
Will Grand Final experience come into play? It’s a cliche, but it’s a cliche for a reason. Playing in front of the biggest crowd of the year, at a neutral venue with the all the distractions a Grand Final can bring, is very different to regular season matches, with a smaller crowd and much more relaxed atmosphere. 14 of Southerners’ 2nd Semi Final team were part of the 2024 Grand Final squad, so have experienced this day before. While they went into that game as heavy underdogs to the all conquering Tigers, the experience may serve them well on Saturday.
Both teams have played in a range of weather conditions in 2025 and kept winning enough to get here. If the forecast rain arrives early in the day, who will be happier? One suspects it will be Deanmill. The Hawks were superb in the trying conditions on Sunday against Tigers, themselves a side that been good in the wet. While Southerners have won in all conditions this year, their worst performance of the year was in the freak conditions at Rea Park in Round 15. Tigers inflicted a 39 point loss on Souths that day, and in reality, the scoreline of 7.10.52 to 1.7.13 looked kind to Southerners on the balance of play in that game. Southerners have plenty of height and marking power in their side, Will it be neutralised to any extent if the wet weather arrives against a good side who have shown they thrive in the wet.
Who can get the biggest contribution across their squad? Both sides have some outstanding talent, clearly, it’s why they are here. At a glance, it can be argued Southerners’ list bats a little deeper, which may be crucial if the game is tight late.
Key Players
Southerners
Byron Sebire – energetic and averaging a goal a game, Sebire polled well in the recent LSWFL Best & Fairest count (behind only Hughes and Omodei of his team mates). Sebire will need to be watched closely by the Deanmill brains trust, as with ball in hand he’s happy to go for a run and bounce and help Southerners bypass a line and put opposition defences out of position.
Riley Gill – Gill has taken a big step forward this year, after an impressive first season at Colts level last year. Likely to be deployed on the wing, Gill played five senior games this year, kicking three goals and being amongst Souths’ best on multiple occasions. A difficult match up at any level, let alone Colts, this could be a day Gill puts a huge stamp on his breakout year.
Harry Cybula – frequently a key cog in the well run Southerners midfield, Cybula will look to give Souths first use, which could be more critical than normal, especially if the rain hits and a heavy ball makes scoring difficult later in what is likely to be a contested style of game.
Hudson Lyster – Co-Captain of the side with brother, Jett. Lyster marshals the backline with authority and has helped make this team very difficult to score against, giving up some 234 points less than the next most efficient defence during the regular season.
Chayce Stacpoole – the slightly built right footer loves a goal and is now the competition’s leading goal kicker after his three in the 2nd Semi Final and Isaac Lewkowski’s absence for that game. Difficult to match up on as he is deceptively good overhead for his size and quick if the ball hits the deck.
Deanmill
Riley Hetherington – it just has to be. Could Hetherington finish the mythical ‘perfect season’ by adding a flag to his Best & Fairest and MVP double act at the recent LSWFL Presentation Night. 55 votes in the Best & Fairest, from a theoretical top of 70 in a 14 game season with a 5,4,3,2,1 vote system – truly incredible consistency. He polled in 13 of his 14 games, including 7 Best on Ground efforts. He’s an absolute gun, what can he bring to the biggest game of the season?
Cooper Rowe – will be important in the Hawks’ efforts to get first hands on the all in the middle of the ground. The Deanmill skipper is good around the ground, his off the ball positioning an absolute feature, and this will be important to try and manage some of the height they will be giving away at both ends of the ground.
Elijah Bennett – Deanmill’s leading goalkicker missed the Round 17 clash with injury and there were fears his season was over. Returned for the finals however and contributed three crucial goals in the Preliminary Final win. His return to the side could definitely be an important piece in fixing their Round 17 goalkicking woes.
Cooper Rayson – another to likely feature in the midfield and play a crucial role in winning that battle. Made his League debut in 2025 and represented the Lower South West at the Great Southern Colts Carnival.
Koby Brown – another of the Hawks’ young guns coming through and also made his League debut in 2025. Brown didn’t hit the scoreboard in the Round 17 clash, but he’s had an outstanding season and is very likely to feature prominently on Saturday and ensure Deanmill get value from their forward entries.
Caleb Jackson drives Southerners forward in Round 17, watched by the Deanmill faithful in the background.
Photo Courtesy of Three Waters Digital
After the season they’ve had, Southerners will likely go in as favourites for this one, but Deanmill have been impressive in their two finals appearances and the whole club will be behind them as they look to kick start a massive day for the Hawks faithful. Once again, zero sniff of a tip coming from me, other than anyone thinking of skipping the first game of the day has the potential to miss out on an absolute classic.
For all the latest scores, goal kickers and best players – the Lower South West Football League has it’s home on PlayHQ HERE.
