Justin Omodei’s Southerners outfit claimed their 20th Colts Premiership, and first since 2018, with a 20 point win over Deanmill on Saturday. Sunshine greeted patrons who had lined up early to secure the best spots for the day’s action, but that sunshine was soon to disappear and the East Perth Football Club Colts arguably got the worst of the conditions seen through the day.
Southerners answered the first bit of selection intrigue for the day, with both skipper Hamish Omodei and Lachlan Hughes taking their place in the line up, with many at the ground wondering if that would impact the League line up later in the day.
Reid Marshall took his place in the centre circle, set to face Hawks’ Captain Cooper Rowe in the ruck, while he was joined by Caleb Jackson, Hughes and Brody Bachos in the middle of the ground. For Deanmill, Riley Hetherington lined up in the middle, along with Koby Brown and Zachary Wren.
Brown sent the ball forward early, with Omodei taking a superb intercept mark to repel the danger. Hetherington got an important early touch as a chain of handballs ended with a shot from the dangerous Elijah Bennett, seeing Deanmill on the scoreboard first and with two inside 50’s in the opening 60 seconds.
Southerners then had their first attack of the match and after Deanmill had repelled one entry, the ball found it’s way into the hands of Hughes. Hughes went for a run and bounce, before dishing off a handball under pressure to Killian Belton, who finished truly. It was a rapid start to scoring in the slippery conditions, especially when Hetherington then took a strong mark with two Southerners defenders bearing down on him and kicked the answering goal. Under 4 minutes of play and Deanmill had a slender lead, 1.1.7 to 1.0.6.
Minutes later, Cejay Brown almost ran into an open goal, kicking across the face and missing narrowly – the third behind in a row and a continuation of what became a trend in the opening term for the Hawks. Relief for Hawks fans did come midway through the quarter – with Elijah Bennett kicking their second goal to break the run of points. The margin had skipped out to 11 points and Deanmill had the majority of both possession and territory.
Riley Gill took a strong pack mark in the goal square for Southerners minutes later after Hughes, Isaac Lewkowski and Chayce Stacpoole had all been involved inside 50. It narrowed the margin to 5, but still felt against the run of play in the early going.
Cooper Rayson had a banana snap at goal a minute later, but once again the ball refused to bounce the right way for Deanmill. When Hughes sent a long ball inside 50 minutes later and Lewkowski gathered with strength and kicked truly, scores were tied at 3.0.18 to 2.6.18 – with it feeling like Deanmill hadn’t made the most of rare territory dominance over the strong Southerners side. It was also a concerning mirror of their Round 17 clash, where Deanmill were dominant early, but trailed at Quarter Time, 0.7.7 to 2.0.12.
By the Quarter Time break in the Grand Final, ironically in far worse conditions than the Round 17 game, Deanmill were in front 3.8.26 to 3.1.19. In addition to the 8 behinds, there was a late out of bounds on the full from a set shot prior to Oscar Murphy’s important goal, leaving the Hawks in front, but still feeling they’d missed an opportunity to lead by more.
The start of the second quarter saw heavy rain sweep across the ground and scoring opportunities limited, until a rushed Lewkowski kick landed in the arms of Jett Lyster, who kicked truly and narrowed the margin to a point. From the resulting centre contest, Hetherington did as he has done so many times in 2025, breaking clear of the middle and driving his team forward. A ball up ensued and some superb ruck work put the ball down to Oscar Murphy, who kicked truly with a wonderful snap. Scoring became more difficult by the minute as the rain continued, before Lewkowski took a strong double grabber in the goal square to put Southerners back on level terms.
Deanmill had a couple of late chances, including a soccered effort that hit the goal post, before a snap that also hit the post, going to half time with a two point lead, 4.10.34 to 5.2.32. Deanmill’s scoring had been further hampered by the efforts of Harry Cybula, who took multiple intercept marks across half back for Souths.
Chayce Stacpoole was energetic off his wing all day and managed the difficult conditions well. Tackled here by Riley Hetherington, Stacpoole was one of Southerners’ leading goal kickers in 2025 and now has a Premiership Winners Medal.
Photo Courtesy of Mad Dog Moore Media.
Thankfully for players, the hail that had peppered the ground during half time had passed when they returned to start the second half. For Deanmill however, after a half of football where opportunities hadn’t been taken full toll of, the relief of dodging the hail was short lived. Just a minute into the half, Lewkowski fed a smart ruck tap to Hughes, who sent a superb 35 metre snap through the middle and gave Southerners the lead for the first time since early in the first term.
Deanmill had another opportunity barely a minute later, but another set shot missed narrowly. The ground, and ball, were getting heavier by the minute and scoring dried up completely for a large period. Again however it was Hughes who had a massive say in the outcome. After an arguably ill advised advantage from Deanmill following a free kick only lobbed in the arms of Omodei, Southerners went forward and it was Hughes breaking clear from a stoppage who got himself onto his right foot and sent through a class goal. Where Deanmill had worked their way around Omodei so well in the first quarter, they were struggling to break past him now, and most of Southerners’ prime movers were getting on top. In addition to Hughes – Stacpoole, Jackson and Gill were all getting their hands on the ball and while the margin was only 9 points late in the quarter, it felt like Southerners had worked their way on top.
Late in the quarter, disaster struck for Deanmill. Stacpoole ran inside 50 and sent the ball goalward, before being given a late shove in the back. The resulting downfield free was awarded to Ethan Virgo in the square, despite the best efforts of Stacpoole to try and claim it himself, and Virgo kicked truly on the siren to extend the margin to 15.
With the score 8.2.50 to 4.11.35 in Souths’ favour, though the margin was only 15, the conditions were making scoring difficult and 15 felt like a big margin in the context of the game. The late goal was a real sap to the Hawk’s spirit and it got worse when Jayden Sawyer held his feet in a tackle and dribbled a goal through a minute and a half into the final term. There were only a further two behinds kicked for the quarter as the rain continued to make conditions heavier by the minute, and Souths eased home by 20 points to claim their 20th flag.
Before the worst of the conditions set in, the opening to the game was frantic. Multiple goals were scored in the opening minutes of the game and there were some fantastic aerial contests, such as this one between Bryn Perrella and Jett Martyn.
Photo Courtesy of Mad Dog Moore Media
SCOREBOARD
Southerners 3.1.19 5.2.32 8.2.50 9.3.57
Deanmill 3.8.26 4.10.34 4.11.35 4.13.37
Goals: Southerners – Isaac Lewkowski 2, Lachlan Hughes 2, Ethan Virgo, Killian Belton, Jett Lyster, Jayden Sawyer, Riley Gill.
Deanmill – Oscar Murphy 2, Elijah Bennett, Riley Hetherington.
Best: Southerners – Caleb Jackson, Lachlan Hughes, Chayce Stacpoole, Harry Cybula, Hamish Omodei, Brock Coumbe.
Deanmill – Cooper Rayson, Riley Hetherington, Oscar Murphy, Koby Brown
Hart Mensland Medal – Harry Cybula (Southerners)
Umpires: Dave Rawson, Brayden Ridley, Hayden Rice
