By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – SENIORS GRAND FINAL
It was a magic performance befitting of a champion team in the midst of a golden era.
Back-to-back premierships, and their third flag in four years – for just the second time in the Wickers’ history – are now in the hands of the mighty club at Edwin Flack Reserve, and they did it with precision, experience on the big stage and an energy that simply couldn’t be matched from the opening bounce.
It was the final ever game of the SEFNL – a competition that has represented the region’s talent for 14 years – and a touch of sentiment to the occasion gave fans plenty of anticipation of what could occur over those two hours.
While the weather was stifling, the Wickers refused to let the conditions dictate them – they played like a side that ignores the external noise and only focuses on what they can control.
It’s a mantra that has held them in good stead all season. It’s one of the reasons they are in the midst of a dynasty, and it has kept them level headed in a 2018 year that has had its challenges.
They brought the heat early against Matt Shinners’ Narre Warren, with competition leading goal kicker Harry Money using his class to snap the first major of the afternoon.
It was obvious early that the game would be won by the team who could win the ball in the midfield – it was a major factor in the Wickers’ win over the Magpies only two weeks earlier in a semi-final.
Despite the Magpies peppering the goals early but crucially unable to capitalise, the Wickers remained calm and quickly asserted control over the contest, with the key midfield battle already being dictated by the likes of Travis Tuck, Madi Andrews, Bryce Rutherford and Bailey Asher, who were winning the ball at the coalface.
While Andrews clearly wasn’t at his best after a delayed end to the season, his class was evident with many little kicks to break the game open.
A 50 metre roost from gun playmaker Ash Smith gave the Wickers the only other goal of the first quarter, and they went into the first break holding a nine-point advantage.
But the Magpies actually had an equal amount of scoring shots, and did look dangerous going into attack, and only needed to clean up their conversion on goal and work on bringing the ball into dangerous spots and they would be right in the contest.
As dynamic in the wet as he is in the dry, Tim Gunn used his goal nous to quickly find the big sticks twice early in the second, and despite Aaron Wilson slotting the opening major for the Magpies, the Wickers controlled the tempo of the game, and crucially, were able to put it on the scoreboard.
A factor in the slippery conditions, Tuck’s hands in tight traffic were a joy to watch, and he pushed forward in the latter stages of the second quarter to thread the needle tight up against the boundary to help his side take in a 29-point lead.
For the Magpies, they were simply kicking the ball long under extreme pressure, and it was easy pickings for the likes of Jo West, Michael Riseley and Reece Piper, who were stationed in the perfect position to intercept, and pivotally attack from the back half.
As the wind picked up, and the rain remained relentless, so did the pressure of the Wickers across the ground, but they couldn’t quite put the nail in the coffin after play resumed in the second half, scoring nine points for the quarter despite completely blanketing the Magpies’ run.
While a lot of the points came from difficult shots in the conditions, it kept the door slightly ajar for a charge from Shinners’ group.
Tuck was once again masterful, however, with the Berwick faithful cheering on every possession, broken tackle and sharp bit of footwork in heavy traffic, and his team just kept pushing forward, with the likes of Luke Sheppard, Nick Hillard and Piper in particular continuing to take the game on despite the weather.
After the Wickers kicked three unanswered majors in the final term to push the margin out to 51-points at the final siren, coach Stewart Kemperman praised his side for its intensity all day.
“We pride ourselves on our relentless approach,” he said.
“We got that level right today, and clearly our execution in front of goal wasn’t great, but to get the opportunity to score comes as a result of our application and intensity.”
On another golden grand final day for the Wickers, Luke Jellyman-Turner, Brody Connelly, Michael Riseley, Will Arthurson, Ashley Smith and Bryce Rutherford were all superb throughout the contest, and provided plenty of drive all over the ground.
It was a superb year for the Magpies, regardless of the result, and they did a lot right on Saturday, with the likes of Dylan Quirk, Aaron Wilson, Michael Collins, Trent Cody and Mitch Cox all never giving in and taking the game on until the final siren.
But for the third time in just four years, the Wickers are the kings of the SEFNL, and as the club embarks on a new era in AFL Outer East, perhaps this is only the beginning for one of the great sides in recent memory.
Berwick 8.25 (73)
Narre Warren 2.10 (22)
