By Hayley Wildes
Every player, coach, volunteer and supporter involved with a club wants success. For those at Poowong, finals success hasn’t come easy.
So when the Pies – a team laden with young stars on the rise and a sprinkling of veterans who know what it takes to win – took down the reigning premiers on their home ground in an elimination final, it was a moment to savour for the Poowong faithful.
After all, it had been 11 long years in the wilderness – a long and success-starved 11 years without a finals appearance, let alone a finals win against the reigning premier.
There was a sense from the very start of their clash against the Blues at Catani that the Pies were on.
“From that first bounce, we just took off from where we finished last week against Nyora,” coach Mick Hawken said.
“That Nyora game was one that all our boys really set themselves to win.
“We really put it to our boys that it was a big test heading into finals and we thought that if we could run Nyora right to the end or beat them, it would give our group a lot of confidence going forward.”
It did just that. The Pies beat the minor premiers in the final round of the home and away season and entered the finals on a six-game winning streak – including wins against Nyora and Warragul Indutrials.
Poowong was on a mission against Catani. They jumped out to a 21-point lead at quarter time and despite Catani making a late second-quarter run, led by that same margin at the main break.
The usual suspects of Jack Hazendonk, Chris Robinson, Chris Doria and Tom Wyatt were running riot.
Poowong’s thirst for the contest was immense and they ran their Catani opponents ragged with slick ball movement and intense pressure around the ball.
The second half was when Poowong ran away with it – a six goal to three second half saw the Pies claim the win, 13.12 (90) to 6.13 (49).
Hazendonk’s game was one of reckless abandon – he threw himself at every contest and was duly rewarded with four goals.
“The win means so much for the people who have stuck by the club through thick and thin and to come out the other side and have a little bit of success is really good for all the people who have put a lot of time and effort in,” Hawken said.
“The club has worked extremely hard behind the scenes with getting our junior structures set up – right through from under-16s to seniors.”
Hawken came to the club last year and although it was a season that yielded just one win, the foundations were laid.
“There’s a collective group of Poowong boys who have been there through juniors and are in their third year of senior football now and all those boys have really stood up, and learnt a lot, over the last six weeks,” he said.
“Last year those boys were being thrown around in positions as we were trying to understand what they were good at, and this year we’ve been able to fix them in positions and everyone has played their role.”
For Catani, it was a season that ended with them never being able to recapture their 2017 premiership form. For Poowong, their season continues on to a semi final meeting with the Dusties at Buln Buln on Sunday.
The Dusties fell to Longwarry in Ellinbank on Saturday afternoon in a contest that saw the Crows flex their muscle and strengthen their premiership credentials.
Longwarry was far too good when it mattered most. Playing coach Dan Fry (five goals) and Riley Rundell (four goals) were ruthless up forward, while the likes of Jakob Serong, Brody Rundell and Troy Lehman powered the Crows to a 17.8 (11) to 10.10 (70) win.
The Crows move onto to face Nyora in Nilma Darnum on Saturday for a spot in the grand final – a mouth-watering contest between two teams that never take a backwards step.
