Kojonup completed the perfect season on Saturday, winning the 2026 Tyrepower Manjimup League Grand Final by 84 points over Bridgetown.
The Cougars went into the contest as favourites, courtesy of their undefeated season, and big 2nd Semi Final win over Bridgetown just two weeks earlier. Grand Finals can be funny contests however, so no one from the Cougars was taking things for granted and Travis Abbott’s team looked switched on from their arrival in Pemberton.
Elijah Hayden and Rourke Walsh lined up across the centre circle to start the contest. For the Bulldogs, Hugh Mitchell, Kale Paton and Tim Davies took their place in the middle, while for the Cougars it was Matt Marinoni, Lachy O’Shea and Lachlan Norrish. The Cougars won the all important first centre clearance of the game with a hacked kick out of mid air from Marinoni. Following some big tackles befitting of a Grand Final and a couple of stoppages, Leon van Voorthuizen drove Kojonup inside 50 for the first meaningful chance of the game, finding Mitch Blakers after getting into space off the back off a ball up.
Brett Wilson soon answered with the first scoring shot for Bridgetown after a big tackle on Abbott on centre wing. Wilson wheeled around and launched inside 50, the ball carrying with the breeze and tying up the early score at 1 – 1. The Bulldogs soon launched another attack and Will Masters was awarded a free kick after a hold from Jake Abbott, going back to slot the first major of the game.
It took until close to the 8 minute mark of the quarter for Kojonup to score their first goal. After some more superb stoppage work from the Cougars, the ball found its’ way to a wide open forward line. Lee Lucev tried to find Kyle Smith with the outside of his boot as there was no-one forward of the pair. Smith chased hard into the pocket and looped a handball to Lucev who had run on and banged it through from the square.
Both sides had looks at goal during the middle stages of the quarter, but neither was able to find the all important second and break the building pressure. Smith had a chance in the 17th minute and nearly ran into an open goal before a desperate tackle from Jordan Lowe. While the scores were low and the pressure high, the Cougars had fired a couple of warning shots with their movement around stoppages and preparedness to do the unglamorous things in this type of game, such as a quick hack kick off the ground to gain territory.
The warning shots ceased and the Cougars hit the scoreboard in the 18th minute. After the clearance following the Lowe tackle was chopped off on centre wing, the ball found its way to Jamie Marinoni, who had drifted up the ground and marked just outside 50. Against the breeze, Marinoni played on around the mark and just cleared the pack on the goal line to put Kojonup ahead 15 – 8, the last time the margin was under 10 points. From the resulting ball up in the middle, Kojonup won another clearance through Norrish, who found Smith inside 50, but on a tight angle and against the breeze. Smith sent it through half post high and two goals inside 90 seconds approaching time on had the score at 21 – 8. Smith had his second minutes later, with another Kojonup fast break off half back seeing the ball once again go into a wide open forward line. Smith doubled back behind Lowe after a clever kick from Blakers, and charged into the goal square to boot Kojonup’s 4th. The ladder leaders went into the first change with a 20 point lead, following their burst of 3 goals in 5 minutes.
Bridgetown had the opening three scoring shots of the second term, but it was Kojonup who put the first goal on the board at the nine minute mark. Harry Taylor gathered a loose ball after a boundary throw in and produced a superb left foot snap to once again break the pressure. Break the pressure the Cougars did at this point, with another burst of four goals in four minutes. Rebound off half back and stoppage work continued to be a great source of goals for Kojonup, with Lucev, Smith and Ben Taylor joining the scoring as the lead suddenly ballooned to 42 points. By half time the margin was out to 52, with both Lucev and Smith kicking 4 goals and the Bulldogs defence struggling to shut down the multi faceted Cougars’ forward line. While the margin was 52, it wasn’t so much that Bridgetown were being outclassed, as Kojonup had multiple avenues to goal and Bridgetown had missed a few opportunities with a scoreline of 2.8. To beat Kojonup, opportunities have to be taken and the missed goals were adding up at the Bulldogs’ end.
With the scoreline as it was at half time, the number one item on the Bridgetown wish list was a fast start in the third term, and unfortunately for Bulldogs’ fans, they got the opposite. Lucev kicked his fifth less than a minute into the half, after a strong mark off a rushed kick inside from Lachlan Tulley, following yet another stoppage win. Kojonup were prepared to move the ball forward dirty if required, with their forwards more than capable of winning one on one contests even if the delivery wasn’t perfect. Sam Doherty answered for Bridgetown after a 50 metre penalty, but Harry Gaulter restored the 58 point lead for Kojonup. Blakers extended the lead in the middle of the quarter, before Smith kicked one either side of a superb Brett Wilson goal to see the Cougars 74 points up at the final change and with one had very firmly on the Tyrepower Manjimup flag. Smith’s 6th came after he flew from behind a pack and goaled from the goal line.
A bit of play early in the last quarter summed up part of the issue for Bridgetown on the day and opposition teams all year. Angus Johnston looked inside 50 as Blakers and Smith led towards him. The ball carried over the back of the pair of leading targets and hit Taylor on the chest, who kicked truly. The Cougars finished with 3 players in the top 5 goal kickers in the league, with Lucev, Harry Taylor and Smith. Matt Marinoni was also in the top ten, with the side kicking 426 points more than any other during the home and away season, then winning their two finals with scores of 147 and 129.
With the celebrations well and truly starting in the last quarter for Cougars fans, Harry Taylor kicked another, while Clancy Tonkin kicked the final goal of the match.
Travis Abbott was awarded the Harvey Giblett Medal as Best on Ground, with Matt Marinoni and Kyle Smith also surely in the conversation amongst umpires at the conclusion of the game.
The final score of 19.15.129 to 6.9.45 will be forever remembered by Kojonup fans as their third Lower South West Football League senior flag. With a settled side of predominately local players, the Cougars will now look to do what no side has been able to do since Bridgetown in 2019 and 2021 (with the COVID interruption in between) and go back to back, while Kojonup themselves are actually the last team in the competition to return to the Grand Final the year after winning the premiership. Kojonup returned to the decider in 2024 after their 2023 success, while Boyup Brook and Deanmill were unable to give themselves an opportunity of repeat success over the last two seasons.
For Bridgetown’s part, Morgan Price and his team were clearly the closest challengers to Kojonup this season, running them to their closest margin of 12 points back in Round 13. Containing some of the absolute superstars of the competition in Josh Power, Brett Wilson and Hugh Mitchell, the Bulldogs missed finals in 2024 after two premierships and a runner up finish in the previous four seasons, before returning to finals action last year and now reaching the decider. Khai Robertson has in the space of one season gone from a talented young player, to a genuine top level contributor at League level, while the likes of Matt Wheatley, Will Masters, Max Wilson, Tim Davies and Kyle Wilson give the side a strong core that can be used as a launching pad again in 2027. The Bulldogs have been a class act on and off the field once again in 2026 and while running into this Kojonup machine at the peak of it’s powers made for a tough Grand Final day, one suspects the Bulldogs will be contending again next season.
Grand Final day itself was a wonderful community event, with a big thanks to the Southerners Football Club for being outstanding hosts on the day.
